Kick It Out data shows rise in anti-immigrant chanting at English matches

New figures released by Kick It Out indicate an increase in abusive chants aimed at immigrants at football matches across England. Last season 39 reports of anti-immigrant chanting were made to the anti-discrimination charity, more than the previous two seasons combined.

The charity’s dataset also shows that reported incidents of discrimination overall reached a new high and that reports of abuse in grassroots football rose for the fifth year running. Phrases such as "stop the boats" and "send them back" were reported as being heard "at all levels of the game". Kick It Out described these episodes as part of a growing trend of discriminatory "mass chanting" at matches, the organisation said.

The figure of 39 reports for last season is notable both for its scale and for the fact that it surpasses the combined totals from the two seasons before it, according to the charity’s account. Those submissions were logged with Kick It Out, which records and monitors incidents of discrimination across professional and community football.

Alongside the rise in anti-immigrant chanting, the charity recorded an overall increase in reported discriminatory incidents, reaching what it described as a new high. The trend included repeated reports from grassroots settings, where the data showed a fifth consecutive year of rising abuse complaints.

Specific phrases cited in the reports — including "stop the boats" and "send them back" — were noted as appearing across multiple tiers of the game. Kick It Out highlighted that such language is being used not only in isolated pockets but, according to reports, "at all levels of the game".

The organisation framed these occurrences as part of a broader pattern of coordinated vocal abuse, using the phrase "mass chanting" in its summary of the findings. Those logged incidents form the basis of the charity’s warning about the growing prominence of anti-immigrant language at matches.

Kick It Out’s statistics for last season underline a continued upward trajectory in reports of discriminatory behaviour, particularly in grassroots football. The charity’s report presents the 39 anti-immigrant chanting incidents as a clear element within the wider rise in reported discrimination.