- 22% of all football-arrests are made by the British Transport Police (BTP)
- 60% of arrests are due to public disorder
- 20% of these arrests are made during Premier League matches.
- There was an increase of 36 incidents of ‘violent disorder’ last year.
- For the 2015-2016 season, West Ham had the most reported incidents of all Premier League clubs at 10%
A report on football hooliganism during the 2015-16 season named West Ham fans as the worst culprits for football hooliganism after crime on Britain’s railways increased for the first time in 10 years.
Hammers fans were reportedly responsible for 10% of the 233 reported incidents of hooliganism by purported fans of Premier League clubs during that season following a Freedom of Information request about football-related arrests in 2016 which was analysed by football ticket sales site TicketGum.
In a period when arrests increased for the fourth year running fans of both Manchester clubs plus London clubs Arsenal and Chelsea came in just below the Hammers, all four on 9% of total reported incidents each.
At the bottom of the list of shame was Liverpool and Middlesbrough, with just 1% of reported incidents of hooliganism each.
In one particular incident, it was reported that:
“4-500 fans boarded a special train service.
“While at platform the doors of the train were forced open and coins thrown at rival fans.
“Due to the difficulty closing doors, the train lost power, causing one cancellation and delays to 15 trains. [A] train window was later found to have been smashed.”
One British Transport Police report from 2013 stated an incident had cost over £3000 in damages.
General poor behaviour has also been a hallmark of hooliganism, with one reported incident of sexism by “a group of 10 males [who] wolf whistling, lifting female’s skirts and grabbing the backsides of female passengers as they walked by.”
Unfortunately, such behaviour, including racism as well as sexism from groups of men frequenting football matches is not uncommon amongst the reports of hooliganism revealed within the report.
British Transport Police stated the following, “We adopt a proactive approach to football policing, with officers escorting trains before and after matches and patrolling stations where large numbers of fans are expected.”
The BTP added that “fixed penalty notices are not used for football-related offences, making sure that offenders are charged with the most serious offences their conduct warrants.”