Premier League’s biggest hooligans revealed as fans with most arrests top the table

Behaviour from supporters at football grounds in England is steadily improving, new statistics show, but a new Premier League club has claimed the unwanted title of having the worst-behaved fans.

West Ham were the worst offenders last year, but improved their record over the last 12 months with just 77 arrests compared to 103 the year before. And in total, the number of football-related arrests relating to matches in England and Wales was 1932, an 11 per cent drop from the previous year. Of those, most (1803) came at matches in the top six tiers of English football.

However, some clubs saw an increase, with new leaders overtaking West Ham for overall arrests by club with a huge 121 arrests over the last year – 27 more than the club in second place.

Police patrol the streets outside Old Trafford ahead of a Manchester United fixture. (Image: Getty)

Out in front are Manchester United, who saw 121 arrests at their games according to the Daily Mail including 34 for violent disorder and public disorder, while 27 arrests were for fans entering the stadium or being found inside the stadium in possession of Class A drugs.

Following United were neighbours Manchester City, with 94 arrests of which 43 were for public disorder and 15 for possession of Class A drugs. West Ham followed with their 77 arrests, with 28 for public disorder. Chelsea were just behind in fourth with 76 arrests.

West Ham fans improved their behaviour with fewer arrests last season. (Image: Getty)

Other clubs with higher numbers of arrests for possession of Class A drugs were Newcastle (24), Liverpool (18), Everton (14) and Leeds (13). This is the first year since the Covid-19 pandemic, when fans were banned from stadiums, where arrest figures have gone down year-on-year.

Sixth on the total arrests list was Aston Villa (71), followed by Everton (56), Liverpool (45) and Arsenal (42). The lowest Premier League team was Bournemouth, with just seven arrests, while rivals Leeds and Millwall both recorded similar numbers of arrests with 36 and 38 respectively.

Arsenal had the largest decrease in arrests with 43 and the statistics also showed more arrests were made for away supporters across all clubs than home supporters. 32 per cent of arrests were for public disorder, 22 per cent for violent disorder 22 per cent for possession of Class A drugs.

It was also confirmed that in the 2024/25 season, West Ham supporters were issued the highest number of new banning orders at 31, followed by Chelsea fans (31) and Manchester United (28).