West Ham United supporters top of football related arrests in England & Wales for the 2021-22 season

The most recent statistics on football related arrests and banning orders, released by the Home Office and police forces in England and Wales (GOV.UK), found that the club with the highest number of supporters arrested during the 2021-22 season was in fact West Ham United, with 95 arrests.

Credit: Photo by Federico Maranesi/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images

(Caption: West Ham’s hooligan history will always make them a scalp to target)

Looking back, the survey from the 2018 to 2019 season sees West Ham have the highest increase in arrests throughout the five divisions, rising those figures by 70.

For the 116 clubs in the top five divisions, 52%; 1,061 of the 2,198 football related arrests Football Spectators Act 1989 were at home games. This is the highest since the 2013 to 2014 campaign, when 2,273 arrests were made.

Those 2,198 related events include 441 arrests for pitch invasions, up by 127%, with 561 people charged for throwing missiles and 729 for possession of pyrotechnics. These statistics paint a depressing picture for the domestic game.

West Ham saw 64% of it’s arrests at home games, whereas 36% came away from home. Comparisons from the 2018 to 2019 season (pre COVID-19), suggest there has been a significant increase in arrests for 82 of the 116 clubs in the top five divisions, that’s 71% of clubs during the 2021 to 2022 season.

The most common offence type last season was public disorder (36%), with 786 arrests. West Ham as well as three other clubs within the highest arrests, had public disorder as their most common offence type.

Chart: Cameron Gillies / Source: Football-related arrests and banning orders, England and Wales: 2021 to 2022 season - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) / Created with Word

(Caption: The next highest offenders were Manchester City with 76 arrests, followed by rivals Manchester United with 72. Leicester City round up the top four with 59 fan arrests).

Cheshire Chief Constable Mark Roberts, the country’s head of Football Policing, said: “The release of these statistics underlines that the rise in disorder we saw at the mid-season point of 2021/22 has continued.

“Disorder is a problem that has not gone away, and throughout the whole of last season we saw an increase in crime at football matches across the country - from the Premier League right down to the National League.”

He added: “We know that drug use, along with alcohol, is one the key factors which leads to disorderly behaviour, and we are pleased that the government is adding Class A drugs offences to the banning order legislation.

“This will provide police with another option to tackle criminal and anti-social behaviour.

“Anyone who commits a criminal offence either outside or inside a football ground can expect to face the consequences of their actions.”

According to another survey published by the Home Office, football-related arrest rates in the 2021 to 2022 season were 5.2 arrests per 100,000 attendees, the highest rate since the 2014 to 2015 season, which saw 4.8 arrests per 100,000 attendees.

Out of all the competitions, the FA Cup had the highest arrest rate of 8.7 per 100,000 supporters, looking significantly different to the international competitions, which had the lowest arrest rate of 3.2 per 100,000 supporters.

Chart: Cameron Gillies / Source: Football-related arrests and banning orders, England and Wales: 2021 to 2022 season - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) / Created with Word

(Caption: Football-related arrests per 100,000 attendees, this chart excludes competitions with less than 30 arrests e.g. the Community Shield)