There were 1932 football-related arrests across England and Wales during the 2024-25 season, an 11 per cent drop on the previous year – the first drop since fans returned to stadiums after the Covid-19 pandemic
Manchester United had the highest number of supporters arrested of all clubs in England and Wales last season. There were 121 arrests of United supporters in the 2024-25 campaign, putting the Red Devils ahead of Manchester City (94) and West Ham (77), according to data from the Home Office.
West Ham had the highest number of fans arrested in each of the previous three seasons, the Home Office said. Forty nine per cent of the arrests of United fans occurred at home games, with 34 of them for public or violent disorder.
The number of football-related arrests overall dropped by 11 per cent to 1,932 compared to 2023-24, and marks the first drop since fans returned to stadiums after the Covid-19 pandemic.
The most common arrest type was public disorder (32 per cent). The percentage of arrests for possession of Class A drugs was the highest since it became a Schedule 1 offence in November 2022, up to 19 per cent from an initial nine per cent in 2022-23.
The number of matches with reported incidents increased however by 18 per cent, from 1,341 to 1,583.
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A total of 2,439 banning orders were in force as of June 1, 2025, an increase of 12 per cent compared with the end of the previous season, and the highest number in force since the end of the 2012-13 season.
Banning orders prevent individuals from attending matches in the UK and individuals subject to orders can be ordered to hand over their passports to police before overseas matches and tournaments.
West Ham had the most supporters with a banning order in force at the end of last season, up from 93 to 112.
Manchester United were second with 108, up from 89. Chelsea’s increase from 54 to 80 moved them up from eighth at the end of 2023-24 to third by June 2025.
The most common reported incidents were related to hate crime – reported at 420 of the 1,583 matches where at least one incident was reported. Of those hate crime reports, 287 incidents related to race, 140 to sexual orientation, 20 to religion, 19 to disability and three to gender identity.
The number of hate crime reports at matches was up from 341 in 2023-24, and was the highest on record within the Home Office data provided which goes back to the 2017-18 season.
The number of online hate crimes recorded in connection to football decreased from 322 in 2023-24 to 212 last season.
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