Overview
- Home Office and UK Football Policing Unit figures published Thursday show 1,963 football-related arrests and actions in the 2025–26 domestic season alongside 2,322 incidents recorded during the 2026 World Cup, including a record 384 domestic abuse reports.
- Police leaders say licensed premises accounted for about 43 percent of World Cup disturbances and that heavy alcohol consumption drove much of the increase in violence and sex‑crime allegations around England matches.
- Chief Constable Mark Roberts told ministers that taxpayers covered an estimated £70 million of football policing costs last season and urged clubs and governing bodies to contribute more toward policing outside stadiums.
- The Home Office data list Manchester City supporters as the most arrested (102) in 2025–26, record banning orders at 2,460 in force (West Ham highest with 121), and a sharp rise in online hate incidents recorded by police.
- Authorities say the World Cup figures will feed planning for Euro 2028 as forces review licensing policy, crowd management and cross-border enforcement to reduce domestic harm and improve public-safety planning.