Police urge English clubs to shoulder more of match-day security costs
Police have called on English football clubs to do more to reduce the financial burden of policing on taxpayers, after a Home Office report showed record numbers of matches with incidents during the 2025-26 season. The report, released on Thursday 23 July 2026, also noted that arrests at games have continued to return to pre-Covid figures.
The Home Office’s annual analysis found a 4% rise in fixtures where police recorded reports of “football-related anti-social behaviour, violence and disorder” in 2025-26. Incidents were reported at 1,644 matches, compared with 1,580 the previous campaign. The report additionally set out a measure of enforcement per crowd size, noting there were four arrests for every 100,000 people attending games.
Officials and police leaders have framed the figures as evidence that, while the raw number of reported incidents reached a high, the proportion of attendees being arrested is low and trending back toward levels seen before the Covid-19 pandemic. The Home Office data underlines that the escalation in matches with reports is not accompanied by a proportional rise in arrests, a point emphasised in discussions about how costs are allocated between public services and clubs.
The 4% increase in matches with reports represents the largest such total recorded in the season covered by the report, with 1,644 fixtures flagged by police. That is up from 1,580 fixtures in the prior season, a change the report quantifies as an overall increase in reported football-related incidents across England and Wales. The report uses the phrase “football-related anti-social behaviour, violence and disorder” to define the types of incidents included in those figures.
Alongside the count of matches, the document presents the enforcement rate relative to crowd size, using the metric of arrests per 100,000 attendees. With four arrests for every 100,000 people at matches, the statistic was cited to illustrate how arrest totals compare to spectator numbers and to previous seasonal baselines. Police forces and policymakers have used that ratio when debating resource deployment and financial responsibility for match-day security.
The publication’s timing — released on Thursday 23 July 2026 — has brought renewed attention to how policing at football matches is funded and organised. Police representatives have pointed to the data to argue for greater contributions from clubs towards the security costs that fall on local forces, noting the strain on public resources even where arrest rates remain relatively low.
The report’s combination of a record number of matches with incidents and an arrest rate returning to pre-Covid figures will shape ongoing discussions between police, clubs and government on who should meet the rising costs of match-day policing. The Home Office data provides a fresh statistical basis for those negotiations and for any policy responses that authorities consider.
