Football clubs face mounting pressure to foot more of the bill for match-day policing, as new figures reveal the highest number of incidents since records began. The UK's football policing lead, Chief Constable Mark Roberts, said the current model, which leaves taxpayers covering £70m each season, “simply cannot continue”.
Statistics released by the Home Office show incidents were reported at 1,644 matches last season in England and Wales – the highest since the UK Football Policing Unit started collecting data in 2017-18. Of those, 159 were classed as “high severity”, up from 106 the previous season. Roberts argued that multi-billion-pound clubs are not contributing a penny towards policing outside their grounds, even though “football-related crime doesn’t simply stop when fans exit the stadium”.
“Chief constable says £70m taxpayer bill for match policing 'cannot continue' as incidents reach highest since records began.”
However, Geoff Pearson, a professor of law at the University of Manchester and leading researcher in crowd behaviour, said he is “not alarmed” by the figures. He pointed out that reported incidents are different from arrests, which actually fell by 40 to 1,963 last season, and that arrests for violent disorder dropped by 3%. “These statistics point to the reward” of British police’s continued improvement, he said, adding that “football policing in this country is the envy of much of the world”. Pearson suggested the rise in reported incidents could be due to improved recording systems.
Roberts’ warning came as the 2025-26 season incident figures were published, reigniting a long-running debate over who should pay for match-day security. The £70m taxpayer burden, he said, is part of a model that “doesn’t work”. Clubs have so far not responded to the call.