Football-related arrests have rocketed amid a rise in violent disorder and pitch incursions, new figures show.
There were almost 2,200 arrests at international and domestic matches involving English and Welsh clubs, and the national teams, in the 2012-22 season.
The figure is 59 per cent higher than in 2018-19, which was the last normal year of play before the Covid pandemic, and the largest seen for eight years.
The FA Cup had the highest arrest rate, while the lowest was at international competitions and only three arrests were recorded at England and Wales national team matches at the Women’s Euro 2022 tournament..
Figures for domestic FA Women’s Super League and FA Women’s Championship matches are to be included in the figures for the first time for the current season..
A Home Office report said two thirds of the arrests happened inside football grounds, rather than in the areas surrounding stadia, and the most common offence was public disorder.
Violent disorder arrests were 72 per cent higher than the 2018-19 season, while the number of people being detained for pitch invasions and throwing missiles also leapt up.
The club with the highest number of supporters arrested in the 2021-22 season was West Ham United, with 95 arrests, and it also had the largest increase in arrests since before Covid.
West Ham was followed by Manchester City (76 fans arrests), Manchester United (72 fans arrested), Leicester City (59 fans arrested) and Everton (58 fans arrested).
The statistics were published after police urged football to “press the reset button” after a season marred by rising violence and disorder.
In May, the government announced an extension of football banning orders to fans convicted of using cocaine at matches, and allow passports to be seized when their teams are playing overseas.
The orders, imposed by courts, could previously be imposed on people convicted of violence, disorder and hate crimes.
In July, the Premier League, EFL and Football Association announced separate measures to ban pitch invaders, drug users and people carrying pyro from stadiums.
PC Adam Collins, a football officer from Derbyshire Constabulary, told The Independent forces across the country that reported an increase in disorder was not confined to one area of the country or even to England, with several countries in Europe reporting upticks in football-related violence following the Covid pandemic.
“We were in a really good place before Covid, everything was coming down,” he added.
“I think a massive part of it is coming out of the pandemic, people had been restricted and not allowed in football matches for 18 months.”
The Sports Grounds Safety Authority said there had been “significant risks to crowd safety” from a rising number of pitch invasions and the use of pyrotechnics.”
As home secretary, Priti Patel extended football banning orders to target cocaine use and the online abuse of players and called “thugs who cause ugly violence and disorder” at matches “a national shame”.
