New law around drug possession leads to highest number of football arrests in over a decade

Statistics released by the Home Office show that incidents of hate crime were reported in relation to 370 games last season — 12 per cent of matches; on average there were just five arrests for every 100,000 supporters who attended stadiums

Senior Reporter, Sky Sports News @RobDorsettSky

Thursday 28 September 2023 14:40, UK

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UK courts issued the highest number of football banning orders in more than a decade last season — although new figures also show that a record 45 million people attended men's domestic and international football matches.

The statistics, released annually by the Home Office, show that on average there were just five arrests for every 100,000 supporters who attended stadiums.

«That 45 million is the highest attendance figure ever,» Chief Constable Mark Roberts, the head of UK football policing, has told Sky Sports News.

«So that shows the vast majority of people going to football matches behave, and enjoy themselves. That's important. We need to shake off this idea that this (football disorder) is an English problem.

»Recent events in Eastern Europe, and Ajax for example, show how bad things can be, and we need to keep it in context.

«And whilst we will never brush the bad behaviour of supporters under the carpet, it's important we get that message across and avoid giving England fans a bad name, because that affects policing.»

Recent big tournaments abroad have also seen very positive outcomes.

«At the World Cups recently in Russia and Qatar,» Chief Constable Roberts says, «the behaviour of England and Wales fans was probably better than anyone else there.»

However, the UK courts last season issued 682 new football banning orders — an