Official Statistics

Football-related arrests and banning orders, England and Wales: 2021 to 2022 season

Published 22 September 2022

Applies to England and Wales

Frequency of release: Annual

Forthcoming releases: Home Office statistics release calendar

Home Office responsible statistician: Jenny Bradley

Press enquiries: pressoffice@homeoffice.gov.uk Telephone: 0300 123 3535

Public enquiries: PolicingStatistics@homeoffice.gov.uk

This release presents official statistics on football-related arrests, football banning orders, reported incidents of football-related anti-social behaviour, violence and disorder and experimental statistics on online hate crime connected to football.

1. Summary

The 2021 to 2022 football season was the first full season where all scheduled matches in England and Wales were played at full spectator capacity following the COVID-19 pandemic (3,019 matches). In the previous season (2020 to 2021), 93% of matches were played without spectators and 7% were played at various reduced capacities. None were played at full capacity. The 2019 to 2020 season was also impacted by COVID-19 from March 2020 onwards, with 11% of fixtures cancelled. As such, season-on-season comparisons are made with the 2020 to 2021 season and also the 2018 to 2019 season (pre COVID-19) to provide a more meaningful measure of change over time.

Arrests
In the 2021 to 2022 football season, there were 2,198 football-related arrests under Schedule 1 of the Football Spectators Act 1989. Of these, the most common offence types were public disorder (36%) and violent disorder (20%). There had been a downward trend in football-related arrests since the 2010 to 2011 football season; a decrease of more than half (-55%) from 3,089 in the 2010 to 2011 season to 1,381 in the 2018 to 2019 season (pre COVID-19). However, arrests in the latest season were around 59% higher than those in the 2018 to 2019 football season (pre COVID-19), and comparable with levels seen in the 2011 to 2012 to 2013 to 2014 seasons.

Figure 1: Schedule 1 football-related arrests, from 2012 to 2013 football season to 2021 to 2022 football season

Source: Home Office, Football-related arrests and banning order statistics, England and Wales, 2021 to 2022 season, Table 5.
Notes:

1. Figures include arrests at all regulated international and domestic football matches involving English and Welsh clubs and the national teams, playing in the UK and overseas.

There were an additional 140 Schedule 1 football-related arrests by British Transport Police (BTP), and 314 Other (non-Schedule 1) arrests (excluding BTP) in the 2021 to 2022 football season. In contrast to the arrests shown in Figure 1, BTP and Other arrests both decreased by 10% compared with the 2018 to 2019 season.

Football banning orders
As at 28 July 2022, 1,308 football banning orders were in force. In the 2021 to 2022 football season, 516 new banning orders were issued, which is around 94% of the 2018 to 2019 football season (pre COVID-19) level.

Reported incidents at football matches
Incidents were reported at 1,609 football matches in the 2021 to 2022 football season (53% of matches). The number of matches with reported incidents increased by 60% (+602 matches) compared with 1,007 matches in the 2018 to 2019 season.

The most reported types of incidents were pyrotechnics (729 matches where incidents were reported), throwing missiles (561) and public order or anti-social behaviour incidents involving youth supporters (444).

2. Introduction

This release presents official statistics on football-related arrests, football banning orders, reported incidents of football-related anti-social behaviour, violence and disorder and experimental statistics on online hate crime connected to football.

Football banning order: A preventative measure imposed by a court following a football-related offence, with the aim to prevent violence or disorder at or in connection with regulated football matches. See the user guide for further information.

Football-related arrests are those to which Schedule 1 of the Football Spectators Act 1989 applies.

Reported incidents include football-related anti-social behaviour, violence and disorder involving supporters of English and Welsh clubs, playing in England and Wales. Reports of incidents are submitted to the UK Football Policing Unit (UKFPU) by police dedicated football officers (DFOs). These reports may be informed by information obtained from partner organisations such as the FA and Kick It Out.

2.1 Women’s football

From 1 July 2022, the definition of a regulated football match was widened to include matches in which one or both teams represent a club that is a member of the Football Association (FA) Women’s Super League or the FA Women’s Championship. This means that arrests, banning orders and incidents relating to these competitions will be included within future versions of the release (none were included within the 2021 to 2022 season statistics as the legislation was widened after these competitions were concluded).

Women’s international football matches and matches involving clubs playing against an overseas opposition were already included within the regulated football match definition and are covered by this release. In the 2021 to 2022 season there were 3 arrests and 4 matches where incidents were recorded at England and Wales national team matches at the Women’s Euro 2022.

2.2 New experimental statistics on online hate crime connected to football

Statistics on online hate crime connected to football are included within this publication for the first time. Whilst the coverage and quality of the data are considered to be good, they have been designated as experimental statistics to acknowledge that they are new and that further development of the data collection, inclusion criteria and quality assurance process is required. Online hate crime connected to football is defined as any electronic communication that appears to breach the law on protected characteristics that is directed towards a player, club, football authority, match official or football personality, where there is a clear link to football, or where the text used is more generic and aimed at a more general group within this criteria. Incidents that are included have met specific criteria and passed a series of ‘threshold tests’. See chapter 6 for more information.

From 1 July 2022, football-related online hate crime offences were added to Schedule 1 of the Football Spectators Act 1989. Therefore, arrests and banning orders made in relation to these offences from this date will be included within future versions of this release (none were included within the 2021 to 2022 season statistics as the legislation was widened at the end of the season).

2.3 The impact of COVID-19

A range of restrictions relating to the COVID-19 pandemic began on 12 March 2020, and the first UK lockdown measures were announced on 23 March 2020. Figures presented for the two previous seasons (2019 to 2020 and 2020 to 2021) were affected by these restrictions.

Season-on-season comparisons have therefore been made both with the previous season (2020 to 2021) and the 2018 to 2019 season (pre COVID-19) to provide a more meaningful measure of change over time. Comparisons should be treated with caution.

The user guide provides additional information on the coverage of the data, quality and methodology, information on the conventions used in the statistics, and relevant legislation.

The data tables provide supplementary data to those presented in this release.

‘Football-related arrests and banning orders’ is an official statistics output produced to the highest professional standards and free from political interference. It has been produced by statisticians working in the Home Office Analysis and Insight Directorate in accordance with the Home Office’s ‘Statement of compliance with the Code of Practice for official statistics’ which covers policies on revisions and other matters. The Home Office Chief Statistician and Head of Profession for statistics reports to the National Statistician with respect to all professional statistical matters, oversees all Home Office official statistics products with respect to the Code of Practice and is responsible for their timing, content and methodology.

3. Football banning orders

Football banning orders may be made by the courts to help prevent violence or disorder at, or in connection with, any regulated football matches. An individual subject to a banning order is prevented from attending all regulated matches in the UK and may be required to surrender their passport to the police before overseas matches and tournaments. Banning orders are issued either following a conviction for a football-related offence or following a complaint by a local police force, British Transport Police (BTP), or the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). The statutory duration of a football banning order is a minimum period of 3 years and no more than 5 years. In cases where a custodial sentence was imposed for the original offence, a minimum period of 6 years and no more than 10 years applies. For more information, see the user guide.

3.1 Fewer football banning orders in force overall, but similar number of new banning orders compared with 2018 to 2019 season

As at 28 July 2022, there were 1,308 football banning orders in force. This compares with 1,359 as at 1 August 2021 (-4%) and 1,771 as at 1 August 2019 (-26%) (prior to restrictions relating to the pandemic). Figures relating to football banning orders in force will have been affected by changes in the way spectators were able to view and attend matches during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the impacts are likely to remain for the current season due to the duration of a banning order being at least 3 years. See user guide, impact of COVID-19.

Since the 2022 to 2023 football season commenced on 29 July, due to the Qatar World Cup being played in November and December 2022, the number of all banning orders in force is reported as at 28 July 2022 (rather than 31 July as for previous seasons). Reference dates for new banning orders issued in the 2021 to 2022 football season were 1 August 2021 to 28 July 2022.

An individual can have multiple bans. Therefore, the number of bans is not equal to the number of individuals who have a ban.

Of the 1,308 football banning orders in force as at 28 July 2022, 516 (39%) were new banning orders (issued between 1 August 2021 and 28 July 2022). This is an increase of 308 from the 2020 to 2021 football season (208) and a 6% decrease compared with the number of new banning orders issued in the 2018 to 2019 football season (549).

A banning order may be imposed by a court in the season after the incident occurred, so some relate to arrests from the previous season. In addition, the time from an arrest to the imposition of a football banning order can vary in length given an order may only be imposed by a court. For example, an individual arrested during the 2021 to 2022 football season would be included in the 2021 to 2022 arrest figures but may not be made subject to a football banning order until sometime later, meaning the football banning order would form part of the figures of a future year’s release.

Figure 2: Number of football banning orders in force in England and Wales, from 2012 to 2013 football season to 2021 to 2022 football season

Source: Home Office, Football-related arrests and banning order statistics, England and Wales, 2021 to 2022 season, Table 1.
Notes:

1. Extraction dates of new banning order data varied year-on-year. See the data tables for data extraction dates.

3.2 Most football banning orders issued to males aged 18 to 34

Of the 1,308 banning orders in force as at 28 July 2022, almost all (99.5%; 1,302) were issued to males. Around 70% (910) were issued to those aged between 18 and 34 and less than 3% (36) were issued to those aged under 18.

3.3 Birmingham City supporters had highest number of football banning orders in force

In the 2021 to 2022 season, Birmingham City supporters had the highest number of football banning orders in force (57), consistent with the previous season. Birmingham City were ranked third in terms of volume of banning orders in the 2018 to 2019 season (57) (pre COVID-19). In the latest season, Millwall supporters had the second highest number of football banning orders in force (52), which is the first time they have ranked in the top five since the 2016 to 2017 season (when they ranked fourth). Bolton Wanderers had the third highest number of banning orders in force in the 2021 to 2022 season (46) compared with ranking at 48 in the 2018 to 2019 season with 12 banning orders. The top five clubs with the highest number of football banning orders in force are shown in Table 1.

Table 1: Clubs with the highest number of football banning orders, 2021 to 2022 season compared with 2018 to 2019 season

Football club	2021 to 2022 season	2021 to 2022 season	2018 to 2019 season (pre COVID-19)	2018 to 2019 season (pre COVID-19)
	Football banning orders	Ranking	Football banning orders	Ranking
Birmingham City	57	1	57	3
Millwall	52	2	43	10
Bolton Wanderers	46	3	12	48
Liverpool	38	4	27	23 (joint)
Everton	36	5 (joint)	31	18
Leicester City	36	5 (joint)	14	45 (joint)

Source: Home Office, Football-related arrests and banning order statistics, England and Wales, 2021 to 2022 season, open data table.

In the 2021 to 2022 season, Millwall (33), Leicester City (28) and Everton (26) supporters were issued the highest number of new football banning orders.

4. Football-related arrests

Statistics on football-related arrests are submitted by the 43 Home Office police forces in England and Wales, and BTP, to the UKFPU. For the purpose of these statistics, ‘football-related arrests’ are arrests for offences specified in Schedule 1 to the Football Spectators Act 1989 - these include football-specific offences (such as pitch incursion and throwing missiles inside a stadium) and a range of wider offences committed in connection with a regulated football match such as assault, criminal damage and the possession of weapons.

In addition, a person may be arrested at a football match for offences which are not covered by Schedule 1. These include offences such as possession of drugs and theft. For the purpose of these statistics, these arrests are termed ‘Other arrests’.

4.1 Highest number of Schedule 1 football-related arrests since 2013 to 2014 season

During the 2021 to 2022 football season, there were 2,198 football-related arrests in connection with regulated international and domestic football matches involving English and Welsh clubs and the national teams (excluding BTP; see the BTP section for football-related arrests by BTP). This is the highest number of arrests made in a season since the 2013 to 2014 season, when 2,273 arrests were made, and is a 59% increase from 1,381 in the 2018 to 2019 football season.

Nearly two-thirds (64%; 1,404) of the 2,198 arrests in the 2021 to 2022 football season occurred inside the football ground, which compares with 59% in the 2018 to 2019 football season (and 37% in the 2020 to 2021 football season).

Figure 3: Schedule 1 football-related arrests by location of arrest, from 2012 to 2013 football season to 2021 to 2022 football season

Source: Home Office, Football-related arrests and banning order statistics, England and Wales, 2021 to 2022 season, Table 5 and 8.
Notes:

1. Figures include arrests at all regulated international and domestic football matches involving English and Welsh clubs and the national teams, playing in the UK and overseas.
2. Data by location of arrest are not available prior to 2014 to 2015 football season.

4.2 Increase in football-related arrests at national team and international matches

During the 2021 to 2022 football season, there were 38 football-related arrests at England and Wales national team matches (2% of total arrests), of which 3 occurred at the Women’s Euro 2022 matches and 10 occurred outside England and Wales. This compares with 18 arrests at national team matches in the 2018 to 2019 season and 92 arrests in the 2020 to 2021 season (of which 90 occurred at Euro 2020 matches).

There were 121 football-related arrests at European competition matches in the 2021 to 2022 season (i.e. matches where an English or Welsh team (excluding the national teams) played in a European tournament); of which 12 (10%) occurred abroad. This compares with 69 arrests at European competition matches in the 2018 to 2019 season.

There were a further 2 football-related arrests at matches involving international teams playing at the Women’s Euro 2022 held in England (which are not included in the total Schedule 1 arrests due to there being no England or Wales national teams playing).

4.3 The most common football-related arrest offence type was public disorder

The most common football-related arrest offence types were public disorder (36%), violent disorder (20%), and pitch incursion (14%), as shown in Figure 4. These were also the most common offence types in the 2018 to 2019 season. Arrests for violent disorder increased by 72% (+186) and arrests for public disorder increased by 50% (+262) compared with the 2018 to 2019 season. Arrests for most offence types showed an increase in the 2021 to 2022 season (compared with pre COVID-19 levels), with just small decreases in ticket touting, possession of an offensive weapon and breach of a banning order offences. In the previous season (2020 to 2021), which was heavily impacted by COVID-19, the most common offence types were violent disorder (36%), public disorder (34%) and alcohol offences and or driving under the influence of drink or drugs (11%).

Compared with the 2013 to 2014 season, which had a similar total number of Schedule 1 arrests as the 2021 to 2022 season (2,273 arrests), there were notable increases in offence types of pitch incursion (+139) and throwing missiles (+112), and decreases in alcohol offences and or driving under the influence of drink or drugs (-359) and ticket touting (-91).

Figure 4: Football-related arrests by offence type, from 2012 to 2013 football season to 2021 to 2022 football season

Source: Home Office, Football-related arrests and banning order statistics, England and Wales, 2021 to 2022 season, Table 5.
Notes:

1. Figures include arrests at all regulated international and domestic football matches involving English and Welsh clubs and the national teams, playing in the UK and overseas.
2. Alcohol offences include driving under the influence of drink or drugs.
3. Other includes racist or indecent chanting, ticket touting, possession of an offensive weapon, possession of pyrotechnics, breach of a banning order and criminal damage and or offences against the property.

4.4 West Ham United had highest number of arrests

For clubs in the top 5 divisions, just over half (52%; 1,061) of the 2,056 football-related arrests were at home games. Compared with the 2018 to 2019 season (pre COVID-19), there was an increase in arrests for 82 of a total 115 clubs in the top 5 divisions (71% of clubs) for 2021 to 2022 season. The club with the highest number of supporters arrested in the 2021 to 2022 season was West Ham United, with 95 arrests, as shown in Figure 5. West Ham United also had the largest increase in arrests compared with the 2018 to 2019 season (+70).

Figure 5: Clubs with the highest number of supporters arrested, 2021 to 2022 football season

Source: Home Office, Football-related arrests and banning order statistics, England and Wales, 2021 to 2022 season, Table 4.

4.5 There were 5.2 football-related arrests per 100,000 attendees

The football-related arrest rate in the 2021 to 2022 football season was 5.2 arrests per 100,000 attendees, the highest rate seen over the period that arrest rates have been published (since the 2014 to 2015 season). Of all competitions with 30 arrests or more, the FA Cup had the highest arrest rate of 8.7 arrests per 100,000 attendees; whilst International competitions had the lowest arrest rate of 3.2 arrests per 100,000 attendees.

Figure 6: Football-related arrest rate per 100,000 attendees by competition, 2021 to 2022 football season

Source: Home Office, Football-related arrests and banning order statistics, England and Wales, 2021 to 2022 season, Table 10. Attendance figures obtained from the Utilita Football Yearbook 2021-2022, Transfermarkt and FA.
Notes:

1. Figures include arrests at all regulated international and domestic football matches involving English and Welsh clubs and the national teams, playing in the UK and overseas.
2. Excludes ‘other’ competitions which include Community Shield, Under-21 internationals and domestic pre-season friendlies.
3. Excludes competitions with less than 30 arrests.

4.6 Football-related arrests by British Transport Police did not increase

In the 2021 to 2022 football season, there were 140 Schedule 1 football-related arrests reported by BTP in connection with regulated international and domestic football matches involving English and Welsh clubs and the national teams. This compares with 24 in the 2020 to 2021 football season and 155 in the 2018 to 2019 football season (pre COVID-19). The most common offence type was public disorder (45%; 63 arrests), which was also the most common offence type seen in all previous seasons since these data were collected, apart from the 2020 to 2021 season (which was heavily impacted by COVID-19), when violent disorder was the most common (58%; 14 arrests). There were a further 20 Other BTP arrests (non-Schedule 1 arrests) in the 2021 to 2022 season. For more information on football-related arrests by BTP see the user guide.

4.7 No increase in Other arrests (non-Schedule 1) compared with 2018 to 2019 season

A person may be arrested at a football match for an offence not covered by Schedule 1, which can include possession of drugs and theft. For the purpose of these statistics, these arrests are termed ‘Other arrests’.

In the 2021 to 2022 football season, there were 314 Other arrests in connection with regulated international and domestic football matches involving English and Welsh clubs and the national teams (excluding BTP). This compares with 29 in the 2020 to 2021 football season and 347 in the 2018 to 2019 football season (pre COVID-19). The way in which ‘Other arrests’ are recorded means that it is not possible for these to be published by offence type. For more information see the user guide.

5. Reported incidents at football matches

Reported incidents include football-related anti-social behaviour, violence and disorder involving supporters of English and Welsh clubs, playing in England and Wales. Reports of incidents are submitted to UKFPU by police dedicated football officers (DFOs). These reports may be informed by information obtained from partner organisations such as the FA and Kick It Out.

Figures presented in this section relate to the number of football matches where an incident was reported to have occurred, and not the number of individual incidents. Multiple incidents may be reported per match.

5.1 Incidents were reported at 1,609 of 3,019 football matches in the 2021 to 2022 football season

In the 2021 to 2022 football season, there were 3,019 regulated domestic football matches involving English and Welsh teams played in England and Wales. Incidents were reported at 1,609 matches (53%). This compares with 79 of the 212 football matches with spectators in the 2020 to 2021 season (37%) and 1,007 of the 3,022 matches in the 2018 to 2019 football season (33%; pre COVID-19). The 2021 to 2022 season had the highest number of reported incidents since comparable data have been available (from the 2017 to 2018 season) and was a 60% increase on the 2018 to 2019 season.

5.2 64% of incidents were assessed as low risk

A post-match incident report assessment is conducted after each regulated domestic football match and allocates a low, medium, or high risk category to each match depending on the severity of incidents that occurred before, during and after the match.

In the 2021 to 2022 football season, there were 1,027 matches with low severity incidents (64%), 426 matches with medium severity incidents (26%) and 156 matches with high severity incidents (10%).

5.3 The most commonly reported incidents involved pyrotechnics and throwing missiles

Figures on reported incidents are available by type of incident. More than one incident type may be reported at each match, so the sum of the incident types is greater than the number of matches where an incident was reported.

The most commonly reported types of incident involved pyrotechnics (at 729 matches) and throwing missiles (at 561 matches).

There were also 444 matches where public order or anti-social behaviour incidents involving youth supporters (a supporter aged 25 or under) were recorded (these include planned or spontaneous incidents at or in connection with a football event), and 441 matches involving pitch incursion incidents.

Hate crime incidents were reported in relation to 384 matches (13% of matches). Of these, 283 involved hate crime incidents related to race and 106 involved hate crime incidents related to sexual orientation.

Increases were seen in almost all types of incidents compared with the 2018 to 2019 season. Notable increases included matches with incidents involving pyrotechnics (+394), throwing missiles (+259), pitch incursion (+247) and hate crime (+191).

Of the incidents reported at 1,609 football matches, incidents occurred at 4 England matches at the Women’s Euro 2022 indicating that hosting the tournament did not have a big impact on the total number of incidents.

In addition, there were also incidents reported at 6 of the Women’s Euro 2022 matches played at Wembley that did not involve the England or Wales national teams.

For more information on reported incidents at football matches, see Tables 11 to 13.

6. New experimental statistics on online hate crime incidents connected to football

Statistics on online hate crime incidents connected to football are included within this publication for the first time and have been designated as experimental statistics to acknowledge that they are new and that further development of the data collection, inclusion criteria and quality assurance processes is needed.

Online hate crime connected to football is defined as any electronic communication that appears to breach the law on protected characteristics that is directed towards a player, club, football authority, match official or football personality, where there is a clear link to football, or where the text used is more generic and aimed at a more general group within this criteria.

Incidents of online abuse and hate crime connected to football can be referred to UKFPU by a relevant body such as Kick It Out, the FA, UEFA, or a police force. From 1 January 2022, incidents that were referred to UKFPU, investigated by a team of police dedicated football officers and passed ‘threshold tests’ were recorded as online hate crimes.

In addition to the reported incidents above, from 1 January 2022 to 28 July 2022 there were 52 recorded incidents of online hate crime connected to football. These were incidents that passed threshold tests relating to the content of the post, the time and place where it occurred and the evidence available. Prior to 1 January 2022, 22 online hate crime incidents were investigated by police forces in the 2021 to 2022 season. These incidents were not necessarily considered under the same criteria or quality assured to the same level as incidents from 1 January 2022 onwards. However, the figures together (totaling 74 incidents) provide a good indication of the number of reported online hate crime incidents that met the criteria for further investigation over the 2021 to 2022 season.

From 1 July 2022, online hate crime connected to football offences were added to Schedule 1 of the Football Spectators Act 1989. Football-related arrests and football banning orders made in relation to incidents of online hate crime will be included within future versions of this release (no arrests or banning orders were included within the 2021 to 2022 season statistics as the legislation was widened at the end of the season).

For more information see the online hate crime connected to football section of the user guide.

7. User guide

7.1 Football banning orders and football-related arrests

Uses of the statistics

Uses of the football-related arrests and banning orders statistics are listed below using the standard categorisation for official statistics.

a) Informing the general public’s choices:

• about the state of the economy, society and the environment - figures are used by national and local media in reports of the behaviour of football supporters
• about the activity of the police - figures are requested via Parliamentary Questions and Freedom of Information requests

b) Government policy making and monitoring:

• statistics are used to inform government policy and operational decisions by the police to mitigate the risk of future football-related disorder

c) Resource allocation - typically by central and local government:

• statistics on football-related arrests and banning orders demonstrate the scale of football disorder; and the police and CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) activities.

7.2 Definitions and legislation

A football banning order (FBO) is a civil order which may be made by a court to help prevent violence or disorder at or in connection with regulated football matches.

The court must make a FBO where an offender has been convicted of a relevant offence (i.e. an offence specified in Schedule 1 to the Football Spectators Act 1989 unless the court considers that there are particular circumstances relating to the offender which would make it unjust in all the circumstances to do so). Where the court does not make a banning order it must state in open court the reasons for not doing so. Additionally, the police, BTP or CPS may make an application to the court to make a FBO in respect of a person who has at any time caused or contributed to violence or disorder, whether in the UK or elsewhere.

An individual subject to a FBO is prevented from attending regulated football matches in the UK. In addition, during a ‘control period’ for an overseas regulated football match or tournament, the enforcing authority (Football Banning Orders Authority, FBOA) can issue a notice to a person who is subject to a FBO, requiring that they report to a local police station and surrender their passport. A FBO may impose any additional requirements the court sees fit in relation to any regulated football matches.

A FBO lasts a minimum of 3 years and a maximum of 10 years. The Breach of an order is a criminal offence punishable by a maximum sentence of 6 months in prison, an unlimited fine, or both.

Although in general one FBO equates to one individual, the number of existing banning orders is not necessarily the same as the number of individuals subject to FBOs, as an individual can be subject to more than one banning order. Furthermore, a banned individual may follow more than one football club so their FBO would appear more than once in the figures; however, the number that this applies to is small.

An individual may be made subject to a FBO in one of two ways: either at a hearing following a conviction for a football-related offence or on application to a court from the police or CPS (in which case the individual will not necessarily have been arrested).

In addition, the time from an arrest to the imposition of a FBO can vary in length given an order may only be imposed by a court. For example, an individual arrested during the 2021 to 2022 football season would be included in the 2021 to 2022 arrest figures but may not be made subject to a FBO until sometime later, meaning the FBO would form part of the figures of a future year’s release. Football banning orders were first introduced in 2000 and comparable data are available from the 2010 to 2011 football season.

From 1 July 2022, online and remote football-related hate crime offences were added to Schedule 1 of the 1989 Act. Accordingly, where a Court makes a declaration that the Schedule 1 offence related to football a FBO can be imposed following conviction.

From 1 July 2022, the definition of a regulated football match was widened to include matches in which one or both teams represent a club that is a member of the FA Women’s Super League or the FA Women’s Championship (matches involving such clubs against overseas opposition were already included).

7.3 Data coverage

Impact of COVID-19

A range of restrictions relating to the COVID-19 pandemic began on 12 March 2020, and the first UK lockdown measures were announced on 23 March 2020. Figures presented for the 2020 to 2021 football season, covering 1 August 2020 to 31 July 2021, were affected by this.

In the 2020 to 2021 football season, all 2,978 scheduled matches were played; of these, 2,766 were played without spectators, 212 were played at various reduced capacities (50%, 75% etc) and none were played at full capacity.

The restrictions relating to football during this period, as well as more general restrictions (for example, the closure of courts preventing the issue of any football banning orders), had the effect of decreasing the total number of football banning orders and football related arrests and incidents relating to specific matches over the 2020 to 2021 football season.

Whilst most comparisons with the 2020 to 2021 season have been retained as a valid measure of change over the period, changes should be considered in the context of the pandemic and treated with caution.

Football banning orders

Statistics on banning orders were taken from the Football Banning Orders Authority (FBOA) (part of Home Office UKFPU) records.

Extraction dates for the new banning orders data varies each year. Information on all banning orders in force is reported as at 28 July 2022 rather than 31 July as in previous years (reference dates for new banning orders issued in the 2021 to 2022 football season were 1 August 2021 to 28 July 2022). This is due to the 2022 Qatar World Cup being played in November and December 2022; the 2022 to 2023 football season will commence on 29 July 2022.

The small variation in the duration of periods covered year-on-year should be considered when making season-on-season comparisons. See the data tables for data extraction dates.

Football-related arrests

Statistics on football-related arrests are submitted by the 43 Home Office police forces in England and Wales, and BTP, to the UKFPU. Football-related arrests are those to which Schedule 1 of the Football Spectators Act 1989 applies. This includes football-specific offences (such as pitch incursion and throwing missiles inside a stadium) and a range of generic public order offences committed in connection with a football match (at any place within a period of 24 hours either side of a match). From 1 July 2022, online and remote football-related hate crime offences were added to Schedule 1; the relevant time period for such offences is longer than 24 hours.

BTP officers may escort trains before and after matches, and patrol stations where large numbers of fans, or fans from different or rival teams, are expected.

Statistics on football-related arrests cover the 2021 to 2022 football season.

7.4 Data collection and preparatory work

Throughout the season, football-related arrest data are collected and submitted to UKFPU by police forces in England and Wales and the BTP.

Banning orders are submitted to the FBOA, as enforcing authority, by courts in England and Wales or the CPS. Following the court making a FBO, it is required to notify the FBOA, who administer the banning order.

Once all data have been received and collated by UKFPU, officials carry out a sense check and query any outliers or anomalies with the respective police DFO.

The data are then supplied to Home Office statisticians by UKFPU. Following this, the data undergo further scrutiny by Home Office statisticians, including validation and variance checks as part of their quality assurance process, for example to ensure that the number of banning orders issued in a football season do not exceed the total number of banning orders issued at the end of a football season.

Data which still appear to be outliers or anomalies are sent to UKFPU for further investigation and where necessary are followed up with the relevant DFO.

7.5 Other arrests

Definition

‘Other arrests’ at football matches are those not covered by Schedule 1 of the Football Spectators Act 1989. This includes offences such as the possession of drugs and theft.

Data source

The data are extracted from the Home Office’s football database and derived from arrests submitted by the 43 Home Office police forces in England and Wales to the UKFPU.

Data quality

Home Office statisticians’ preparatory and quality assurance exercises have identified limitations in the data and how it can be used and interpreted. ‘Other arrests’ broken down by offence type are not available owing to incomplete records on the football database.

7.6 Quality and process checks carried out

These statistics are compiled by Home Office statisticians. They have worked closely with the UKFPU to quality assure the data. These checks follow the QAAD guidance (Quality Assurance of Administrative Data) and include:

• ensuring the data provided is complete, or as close as possible, given the recording capacity of the database (for example ensuring home and away teams are specified)
• querying contradictory data (for example where the team supported contradicts location of game, incorrect offence types) and working with UKFPU to correct the data where possible

These recording and data quality issues are not uncommon, and it is expected that the quality of the data will improve as the collection continues.

7.7 Improvements to data quality

Statisticians in the Home Office will work with UKFPU to further improve the quality of these statistics as the collection continues. This will include, for example, consulting individual DFOs to address areas of their data collection to rectify errors or incomplete records.

7.8 Online hate crime connected to football

In Football related arrests and banning orders, season 2020 to 2021 season, it was stated that UKFPU, along with other stakeholders, would explore how to capture and report on online hate crime connected to football. A pilot exercise was developed, and from January 2022 data were collected.

7.9 Definition

Online hate crime connected to football is defined as any electronic communication that appears to breach the law on protected characteristics that is directed towards, for example, a player, manager, coach, club, football authority, match official or football personality, where there is a clear link to football. The suspected offence(s) must have been reported to a body such as Kick It Out, the FA, UEFA, or a police force by an individual or by a third party specifically working on behalf of that individual, to constitute a criminal allegation. There may be exceptions to this process in certain cases.

Once incidents are reported to a relevant body, they are referred to UKFPU. UKFPU will then work with a senior investigating officer (SIO) to assess whether the incident passes a series of ‘threshold tests’, which include considering the content of the post, the time and location it was made and the evidence available. If the incident passes the threshold tests, UKFPU allocate the incident to the police force where the person identified as responsible resides who then record it as a crime (hate) and investigate further, with the aim of achieving a judicial outcome.

Content threshold

The majority of offences under investigation are considered under Section 127 of the Communications Act 2003 or Section 1 of Malicious Communications Act 1988. The post must be determined to be grossly offensive, and cross the high threshold necessary to protect freedom of expression, even unwelcome freedom of expression.

Time and space threshold

Only posts made about the following will be considered for investigation by UKFPU as an online hate crime connected to football:

• posts that relate to football players who play their trade in England and Wales (including National League North and South, Women’s super League and Women’s Championship) or play for the National Teams of England and Wales
• posts about football clubs or authorities that are generic but not aimed at an individual
• posts about high profile club officials providing they are related to the running of the club
• posts about players from other countries involved in games played in England or Wales
• posts about football authorities, match officials or personalities involved with televising the games

Evidence

There must be a clear attribution to first generation image of the post (for example, a screen shot available) which fully displays the content of the post, and a unique identifier. The evidence must satisfy the Office for Communications Data Authorisations and be admissible in court during any future prosecutions.

Some allegations of online hate crime connected to football may not be referred to a relevant football body or DFO and instead dealt with at a local level. These cases would not be included within these statistics. In addition, posts that do not pass the threshold tests will be for local police to consider in liaison with UKFPU.

7.10 Data quality

Statistics on online hate crime connected to football are included in this release for the first time and have been designated as experimental statistics, to acknowledge that they are new and that further development of the data collection and quality assurance processes is needed.

The time to complete an investigation can vary in length and a final decision may not form part of the figures until a future year’s release.

7.11 Improvements to data quality

Statisticians in the Home Office will work with UKFPU to further improve the quality of these statistics as the collection continues.

7.12 Reported incidents of football-related anti-social behaviour, violence and disorder

Definition

The data collected are reported incidents of football-related anti-social behaviour, violence and disorder involving supporters in connection with English and Welsh matches.

The data include:

• football clubs competing in the top five English divisions
• English Cup competitions
• European Cups
• international team matches played in England or Wales
• pre-season friendlies
• FA Women’s Super League (From 1 July 2022)
• FA Women’s Championship (From 1 July 2022)
• women’s internationals
• women’s matches in European competitions (e.g. UEFA Women’s Champions League)

The data exclude:

• international away matches
• European away matches
• BTP
• pre-season overseas away matches
• Scottish matches

Incidents are included if they occur 24 hours before or after the advertised or actual start of a regulated match, (with the exception of incidents of online hate crime connected to football) and include those that occur inside or outside of the football stadium.

The incidents may be related to arrests and or banning orders, but it is not possible to link the data using the underlying data sources.

7.13 Data source

The data are extracted from the Home Office’s football database and derived from reports of incidents submitted by police DFOs. Where the DFO is not present at a football match, for example at ‘Police Free’ matches, the DFO will gather information from a variety of sources, for example partner organisations such as the governing body (the FA) and the campaigning organisation ‘Kick It Out’ who tackle all forms of discrimination in football.

7.14 Data quality

Figures on reported incidents presented in this report relate to the number of football matches where an incident was reported to have occurred, and not the number of individual incidents. Multiple incidents may take place at one match.

7.15 Quality and process checks carried out

These statistics are compiled by Home Office statisticians who work closely with the UKFPU to quality assure the data. These checks include:

• identifying duplicate data
• ensuring the data provided are complete, or as close as possible, given the recording capacity of the database (for example ensuring each record has incident and match details) and working with UKFPU to correct the data where possible
• taking a sample of records to compare the free text report summary against the incidents details
• investigating the proportion of matches with a report incident

7.16 Improvements to data quality

Statisticians in the Home Office work with UKFPU to quality assure these data. This includes, for example, consulting individual DFOs to address areas of their data collection to rectify errors or missing data. In preparation for the collection of data for future seasons, updates and improvements will be made to the football database to continuously improve the coverage and completeness of incoming data.

7.17 Rounding

Data are provided unrounded in the accompanying data tables of Football-related arrests and banning orders, England and Wales publication. This transparency allows users to exploit the data further. However, caution should be taken when comparing small differences between time periods as figures may not be accurate to the last digit.

Percentages in the release are rounded to the nearest per cent using the round-half-away-from-zero method. For example, 23.5 per cent will be rounded to 24 per cent, and -23.5 per cent will be rounded to -24 per cent.

Where data are rounded, they may not sum to the totals shown, or, in the case of percentages, to 100% because they have been rounded independently.

8. Further information

8.1 Forthcoming and previous statistical releases

Forthcoming publications are pre-announced on the Home Office statistics release calendar.

Previous statistical releases are available from the football-related arrests and banning orders statistics collection page.

8.2 Feedback and enquiries

We are always looking to improve the accessibility of our documents. If you find any problems, or have any feedback, relating to accessibility, or general questions regarding this publication, please email us at PolicingStatistics@homeoffice.gov.uk.