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Football disorder on the rise as police struggle to find resources to crush trouble
The 1970s were dark days for the rise of football hooliganism. And it was not just the big clubs who produced "firms". It was an "English disease" which was as likely to erupt in the lower leagues as in the streets around the country's famous stadiums.
A famous picture was taken at Sheffield United's Bramall Lane ground, in which a fan was being escorted around the side of the pitch and out of the ground by police. Buried in the side of his head was a Kung Fu star.
In February 1978 another 'iconic' image was taken - a Manchester United fan at a game against Liverpool being helped by police and a St John Ambulance man with a dart embedded in his face, dangerously close to his eye.
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The loss of 96 lives at Hillsborough in 1989 rightly warranted a seismic shift in the way we watch the game. The Taylor Report published in its wake resulted in all seat stadia. This diminished the opportunities for violence between fans and crucially increased safety.
But disturbing new figures show an 18 percent increase in reported disorder at football matches across England and Wales last season with 1,583 in 2024/25 compared to 1,341 in 2023/24. This included football-related violence, disorder, anti-social behaviour and harm.
It means at least one incident was reported at more than half of the 3,090 matches played last season from the Premier League down to the National League and games in FA Cup, League Cup, Football League Trophy, Champions League, Europa League, Conference League and international fixtures.
The number of arrests, however, dropped by 11 percent from 2,167 to 1,932 - a first decrease since fans returned to the stadiums after the Covid-19 pandemic.
The National Police Chiefs' Council said the "worrying level of offending at men's football matches across the country" is putting an increased strain on the police.
Cheshire Chief Constable, Mark Roberts, its football policing lead, said the figures show "why it is essential that football clubs need to start paying their fair share towards policing matches."
In April a group of football hooligans were jailed after scenes of chaos broke out at a game between Bolton Wanderers and Wigan Athletic The 'pre-planned' violence erupted in Westhoughton after the match on August 19, 2023, in which Wigan beat Bolton 4-0. At least 50 people were caught up in the brawl, leaving one man in need of hospital treatment. Thirteen men were handed banning orders after the mass fight, with four getting jail sentences.
In December police investigating a huge organised fight between rival hooligans in Salford have arrested ten 'high-risk' Manchester United supporters suspected of being involved in violence with Dutch supporters the day before the Reds took on FC Twente earlier this year.
A fight between a reported 80 men erupted near a pub in Lower Broughton on the afternoon of September 25 but by the time Greater Manchester Police attended the supporters had fled and made their way into Manchester city centre. Pictures later appeared online of what appeared to be masked United hooligans who claimed their Dutch rival ended up running away,
The Home Office figures reveal hate crime incidents increased by six percent and drugs in football stadiums by 25 percent. Police are investigating after an incident towards the end of York City's game with Salford City FC at York's LNER Stadium earlier this month in which racial abuse was directed at Salford players. The game was abandoned.
Meanwhile, there have been decreases in the number of pitch encroachments, down 12 percent, and pyrotechnics offences, reduced by 19 percent as police have worked with the clubs to tackle the issues.
Despite the increase in the number of football-related incidents, the number of arrests has fallen by 11 percent. The National Police Chief's Council says a contributing factor of the decrease is because many police forces have difficulties policing matches as they make hard choices with tightened finances. This is compounded by the inability to fairly recover policing costs.
Despite the decrease in arrests, the number of Football Banning Orders (FBOs) has continued to increase (2,439 in June 2025, compared to 2,172 in August 2024).
The majority of these FBOs are for violent offences such as missile throwing, assaults and public order offences.
Chief Constable Roberts said: "These figures show that we are continuing to see a worrying level of offending at men's football matches across the country at all levels, which is leading to an increasing strain on policing resources and demonstrates why it is essential that football clubs need to start paying their fair share towards policing matches.
"Policing men's football creates significantly more demand than any other event in terms of public order deployments nationally, meaning every week officers are taken away from policing communities to facilitate matches. Given the frequency of the games in the UK, it is a huge drain on our resources and means that we are essentially losing around 800 to 1,200 officers every year to policing football.
"The cost to the public purse for policing football matches is extortionate, with taxpayers now providing £70m of the policing each season - which cannot continue.
"As things stand, football clubs are only required to cover the costs incurred inside their ground or in their property - they do not have to pay a penny towards the policing of surrounding streets, city centres, or towards the increasing marches to stadiums by fans. On top of this, 48 percent of games across all leagues incur no charges for policing, with 95 percent of the National League being police-free so to suggest fair cost recovery would put small clubs out of business is wide of the mark.
"In a nutshell, this means that we as the police are subsidising clubs that quite happily spend up to £1b in a single transfer window. That is why I am continuing to call for the government to speed up the ongoing consultation process into the current legislation."
He added: "The reporting of online hate crime has reduced this year. This is down to us working with social media companies to ensure that action can be taken against those responsible. They have speeded up their processes and many use filters to greater effect, thereby preventing offensive posts being published.
"Further work needs to be done. We know that online abuse is still widely underreported, and we would encourage anyone affected by these despicable crimes to report them.
"Collectively we need to make football a safer space for the overwhelming majority of fans who want to enjoy the game. Anyone who commits a criminal offence outside or inside the ground can expect to face the consequences of their actions."
