Football-related arrests: Clubs urged to reduce the burden of police costs on taxpayers
Football clubs have been urged to contribute more to the cost of match inspections to reduce the burden on taxpayers.
The current model where clubs are not responsible for the cost of policing outside the stadiums “cannot continue”, according to Chief Constable Mark Roberts, who leads football policing in the UK.
Figures released on Thursday, outside The Home Office show incidents were reported at 1,644 matches last season in England and Wales – the highest number since the UK Football Policing Unit (UKFPU) began collecting data in 2017-18.
Chief Constable Roberts says taxpayers received £70m of policing money from football matches last season, as part of a model he believes is “not working”.
“Crimes related to football do not stop when the fans leave the stadium, but under the current system multibillion football clubs do not have to pay a penny to the police outside their stadium,” he said.
“This means that taxpayers are left paying a debt of £70m per season, which is unsustainable.”
Roberts’ comments come as statistics show an increase in “serious” incidents at football games last season.
Of the reported incidents, 159 were categorized as “very severe” – up from 106 last season.
Geoff Pearson, a law professor at the University of Manchester and a leading researcher on crowd behaviour, says the statistics don’t shock him.
He points out that the reported incidents are separate from football-related arrests and other police actions – there were 1,963 last season, less than the previous campaign.
The increase may be due to clubs using improved recording systems and equipment, he said.
Pearson says the 3% drop in violent arrests is an indication of the good work of the UK police, adding that “football policing in this country is the envy of the world”.
“I’m not scared at all by the statistics, if there was a 50% increase in serious incidents I would expect violence to increase, decrease,” said Pearson.
“During the lockdown in this country the British police continued to improve their practices. At a time of chaos around the world in football, the British police need to be commended for sticking to their guns and introducing things like standing safely.
“These figures indicate their reward for doing so.”
In the 2021-22 season, when fans returned to stadiums following the Covid-19 pandemic, there were 2,198 football-related arrests and similar figures for the following two seasons.
That number dropped to 2,004 in the 2024-25 season, before dropping by 40 again last season.
Pearson says the drop in the number of arrests, even though football-related crimes have increased in the past few years, is another indication of the work the police are doing.
Trespassing at matches became a criminal offense in March as part of new legislation, and in 2024 possession of class A drugs was included in football-related arrests.
