Violence and boozed-up thuggery make up the bulk of 2,456 match-day arrests last season and there were 589 new banning orders
Football hooliganism is back on the rise, with 2,456 matchday arrests last season, it emerged yesterday.
Arrests for violence more than doubled from 273 to 554, while 42 thugs were collared for racist chanting – up from 23 the previous season, figures revealed.
And a league of shame also showed the teams with the most fans banned from games by court order.
Cardiff City, Chelsea, Manchester United, Leeds United and Millwall topped the list of Britain’s roughest clubs.
But Malcolm Clarke, chairman of the Football Supporters’ Federation, insisted the increase in arrests was no cause for alarm.
The Stoke City fan added: “There was only one arrest for every 14,000 fans.
“While there’s no room for complacency, my daughter and I feel much safer going to a football match at weekends than I do walking past the clubs and pubs near my home on a Saturday evening.
“We never like to see arrest figures rise but the increase is minimal compared to last year’s 23% decrease.
“It is time that football fans and clubs are given some credit for the huge reduction in football disorder in recent years.”
The 2,363 arrests during the 2011-12 season was the lowest on record and a huge drop from 3,391 in 2009-10.
Last season, with arrests rising, there were 589 new football banning orders – taking the total number nationally to 2,451.
Lower league and non-league teams such as Bradford City, Bristol City, Grimsby Town and Scunthorpe United were among the worst for banned supporters, despite their low gates compared to most teams in the Premier League and Championship.
Newcastle United were top of the league for arrests, with 175 fans nicked on match days.
Champions Manchester United were second, with 145 and Championship outfit Leeds third, with 101.
More than half of arrests were for public disorder and booze-related incidents.
Foreign fans from the likes of Schalke, Lyon and Sparta Prague got into trouble with our police while supporting their teams in European tournaments.
Tory Policing Minister Damian Green said yesterday: “The UK is the world leader in tackling football violence and disorder.
“The overwhelming majority of law-abiding fans can enjoy football in safety.
“There is no place for violence, disorderly behaviour or any form of hate crime at football.”
Shadow Sports Minister Clive Efford agreed and added: “Despite an increase in arrests it is a remarkably small percentage considering over 39 million people attended matches.”
“Despite an increase in arrests from last year’s record low it is still a remarkably small percentage considering that over 39 million people attended matches last season.”
ARRESTS LEAGUE TABLE
Football arrests by club supported 2013/13
- Newcastle United 175
- Manchester United 145
- Leeds United 101
- Manchester City 95
- Chelsea 92
- Nuneaton Town 87
- Sunderland 71
- Millwall 67
- West Ham United 67
- Wolverhampton Wanderers 56
- Birmingham City 55
- Bristol City 54
- Arsenal 53
- Aston Villa 51
- Bolton Wanderers 46
- Everton 44
- Middlesbrough 44
- Walsall 42
- Oxford United 39
- Nottingham Forest 38
- Scunthorpe United 38
- Liverpool 36
- Sheffield Wednesday 35
- Stoke City 32
- Tottenham Hotspur 32
- Blackburn Rovers 31
- Burnley 31
- Crystal Palace 31
- Coventry City 29
- Derby County 29
- Peterborough United 29
- Sheffield United 29
- Barnsley 28
- Cardiff City 26
- Shrewsbury Town 26
- Bristol Rovers 25
- Hull City 25
- Brighton & Hove Albion 24
- Southampton 23
- Leicester City 22
- Bradford City 21
- Watford 21
- Lincoln City 20
- Oldham Athletic 20
- Queens Park Rangers 20
- Huddersfield Town 19
- Port Vale 19
- Rotherham United 19
- Wigan Athletic 18
- Chesterfield 17
- Portsmouth 17
- Grimsby Town 16
- Luton Town 16
- Preston North End 16
- Doncaster Rovers 15
- Bury 14
- Charlton Athletic 14
- Gillingham 14
- Wrexham 14
- Carlisle United 13
- Swansea City 13
- Mansfield Town 12
- Norwich 12
- Tranmere Rovers 12
- Blackpool 11
- York City 11
- Newport County 10
- Swindon Town 10
- West Bromwich Albion 10
- Crewe Alexandra 9
- Fulham 9
- Hartlepool United 9
- Morecambe 9
- Northampton Town 9
- Reading 9
- Stockport County 9
- AFC Wimbledon 8
- Hereford United 8
- Barnet 7
- Bournemouth 7
- Macclesfield Town 7
- Exeter City 6
- Southend United 6
- Aldershot Town 5
- Plymouth Argyle 5
- Brentford 4
- Burton Albion 4
- Ipswich Town 4
- Cheltenham Town 3
- Woking 3
- Yeovil Town 3
- Barrow 2
- Crawley Town 2
- Leyton Orient 2
- Notts County 2
- Rochdale 2
- Stevenage 2
- Colchester United 1
- Kidderminster Harriers 1
- MK Dons 1
- Torquay United 1
- Alfreton Town 1
- Accrington Stanley 0
- AFC Telford United 0
- Braintree Town 0
- Cambridge United 0
- Dagenham and Redbridge 0
- Dartford 0
- Ebbsfleet United 0
- Fleetwood Town 0
- Forest Green Rovers 0
- Gateshead 0
- Hyde 0
- Southport 0
- Tamworth 0
- Wycombe Wanderers 0
BANNING ORDERS LEAGUE TABLE
Total number of banning orders against risk supporters of each club
- Cardiff City, 121
- Chelsea, 110
- Manchester United, 91
- Leeds United, 72
- Millwall, 65
- West Ham United, 65
- Bradford City, 62
- Arsenal, 59
- Newcastle United, 58
- Birmingham City, 57
- Bristol City, 56
- Tottenham Hotspur, 56
- Middlesbrough, 52
- Manchester City, 48
- Hull City, 47
- Huddersfield Town, 47
- Leicester City, 46
- Aston Villa, 44
- Swansea City, 44
- Grimsby Town, 41
- Southampton, 41
- Liverpool, 39
- Sunderland, 38
- Scunthorpe United, 38
- Swindon Town, 37
- Oxford United, 35
- Sheffield Wednesday, 34
- Sheffield United, 33
- Derby County, 32
- Wolverhampton Wanderers, 32
- Crystal Palace, 31
- Coventry City, 30
- Nottingham Forest, 30
- Burnley, 29
- Everton, 27
- Stoke City, 26
- West Bromwich Albion, 25
- Chesterfield, 23
- Exeter City, 23
- Luton Town, 21
- Blackburn Rovers, 20
- Bolton Wanderers, 20
- Lincoln City, 19
- Queens Park Rangers, 19
- Portsmouth, 17
- Torquay United, 17
- Bristol Rovers, 16
- Brighton & Hove Albion, 16
- Plymouth Argyle, 16
- Crewe Alexandra, 15
- York City, 15
- Stockport County, 15
- Brentford, 14
- Rangers (Scotland), 14
- Hartlepool United,13
- Port Vale, 12
- Barnsley, 11
- Charlton Athletic, 11
- Doncaster Rovers, 11
- Mansfield Town, 11
- Newport County, 11
- Wigan Athletic, 11
- Hereford United, 10
- Norwich City, 10
- Preston North End, 10
- Rotherham United, 9
- Rochdale, 9
- Wrexham, 9
- Aldershot Town, 8
- Bury, 8
- Darlington, 8
- Dagenham & Redbridge, 8
- Oldham Athletic, 8
- Walsall, 8
- Alfreton Town, 7
- Carlisle United, 7
- Bournemouth, 7
- Chester City, 7
- Gillingham, 7
- Leyton Orient, 7
- Halifax Town, 7
- Shrewsbury Town, 7
- Tranmere Rovers, 7
- AFC Telford United, 6
- Ipswich Town, 6
- Peterborough United, 6
- Blackpool, 5
- Crawley Town, 5
- Northampton Town, 5
- Reading, 5
- Southend United, 5
- Fulham, 4
- Kidderminster Harriers, 4
- Nuneaton Town, 4
- Watford, 4
- Macclesfield Town, 3
- Accrington Stanley, 2
- Barnet, 2
- Colchester United, 2
- Barrow, 2
- Fleetwood Town, 2
- Notts County, 2
- Kettering Town, 2
- Cheltenham Town, 1
- FC United of Manchester, 1
- Fredrikstad (Norway), 1
- Milton Keynes Dons, 1
- Morecambe, 1
- Lyon (France), 1
- Stevenage, 1
- Rushden & Diamonds, 1
- Salisbury City, 1
- Wycombe Wanderers, 1
- Schalke 04 (Germany), 1
- Yeovil Town, 1
- Sparta Prague (Czech R.), 1
- Staines Town 1
- Utrecht (Netherlands), 1
- Zenit St Petersburg (Russia), 1
- AFC Wimbledon, 0
- Burton Albion, 0