The number of football matches in England and Wales with incidents reported to police reached a record high last season, even as arrests continued to decline towards pre-pandemic levels. The Home Office annual report, released Thursday, revealed a 4% increase in matches with reports of football-related anti-social behaviour, violence, and disorder, rising to 1,644 games from 1,580 the previous campaign.
Arrests decline despite rise in incidents
Total arrests stood at 1,695, down from 1,744 in 2024-25 and significantly lower than the pandemic-era peak of 2,198 in 2021-22. The arrest rate was four per 100,000 attendees for men's matches, with the FA Cup having the highest likelihood of arrests. In women's football, only four arrests were made in total across the season.
The data reflected a change in collection methods. The crime of unauthorised entry was added to the Football Spectators Act 1989, resulting in 45 arrests under the new law. Without this, total arrests would have fallen by 4%. New categories for sexism and misogyny, and violence against women and girls, were also introduced. The Home Office reported 22 matches with sexist behaviour and 37 with violence against women. According to a Home Office statement, “the overall increase was therefore largely driven by the introduction of these new categories.”
Hate crime tops incident types
Among reported incidents, hate crime was the most common, occurring at 491 matches. Throwing missiles followed at 359 games, and pyrotechnics use at 316 matches. Public disorder arrests and actions increased, becoming the most common offence type.
Football banning orders (FBOs) reached their highest level since 2012, with 2,460 currently in place. This is an increase of 568 from the previous season, though smaller than the 685 rise recorded in 2024-25.
Police call for clubs to share policing costs
Chief Constable Mark Roberts, the lead for football policing in England and Wales, highlighted that 46% of arrests and actions occur outside stadiums. “Football-related crime doesn't simply stop when fans exit the stadium, but under the current system multibillion-pound football clubs do not have to pay a penny towards the policing outside their grounds,” Roberts said. “This means that taxpayers are left footing the £70m bill each season, which simply cannot continue.”
A Premier League spokesperson responded: “The Premier League and its clubs work closely with police forces at a national and local level to ensure safe and welcoming environments for all fans. We are investing more than £90m a season in stewarding, security, crime prevention in communities and a series of technology-led pilots in partnership with a number of police forces and the UKFPU. This partnership approach will help the police to safely reduce the demand for policing around football matches, as the number of arrests continue to fall significantly over the last decade.”
