GROUNDS FOR YOB ARRESTS
Cops battle soaring crime at Prem stadiums
CRIME is rocketing around Premier League football grounds, figures show.
Assaults, robberies, criminal damage, burglaries and drugs offences are peaking on match days in the streets surrounding the 20 top flight stadiums.
Yobbish behaviour erupted at last summer’s Euros final between Italy and England at Wembley.
Before the match England fans were seen jumping on and vandalising a car and during the game supporters threw barriers outside the stadium.
Police made 86 arrests and a damning report by Baroness Casey would later find the stadium had been stormed by thousands of ticketless fans.
New data shows this type of conduct is not a one-off. And police are calling for leagues and clubs to work with them to tackle the “significant increase in crime and disorder” in and around matches.
Analysis of government and police stats show over 132,000 match day crimes near Prem clubs’ grounds between 2014 and 2021 – which have been compiled into a table of shame.
Easily topping it with 23,172 crimes in the shadow of St James’ Park is Newcastle Utd.
Its nearest rival is Tottenham Hotspur with 12,217 offences within 500 metres of the three stadiums it occupied in that time.
Some of the most shocking scenes came in 2013 when, following a 3-0 loss to local rivals Sunderland, Newcastle fans went on the rampage.
Bricks, rocks and firecrackers were hurled at Sunderland fans. Wheelie bins were torched and one Newcastle fan punched a police horse, for which he was jailed for a year.
Four police officers were hurt and 23 Newcastle fans arrested.
In 2019, following a 3-2 defeat, Newcastle fans attacked Liverpool fans trying to board a coach outside St James’. Violence inside the ground spilled into the city after the game. A police baton charge ended the mayhem.
Two Newcastle and five Liverpool fans were arrested.
In third spot is Chelsea with
11,228 crimes, Arsenal were fourth on 10,885, Everton fifth with 10,456, then Wolves, on 7,832.
Below the average of 6,609 crimes per ground over the seven year period were champions Manchester City on 3,748, runners-up Liverpool on 6,577, and Manchester Utd on 2,858.
Other crimes committed near stadiums on match days included anti-social behaviour, bicycle theft, public order offences and possession of weapons including knives. Gonçalo Costa, of Oddscomparison.com
which did the research, said: “The huge numbers of people who flood into the area around football grounds on match days cause a dramatic spike in the crime rate.
“Despite the big police presence in and around grounds there is a significant problem.”
Long-standing rivalry between Man Utd and Leeds, promoted to the Premier League in 2020, flared up last February before kick-off when a large group of fans wearing black smashed furniture inside the Stick and Twist pub in Leeds city centre.
Earlier in the season shoppers in Manchester cowered in stores as thugs threw missiles and punches in running street fights.
Five people were arrested on suspicion of public order offences and one on suspicion of drug offences.
And, in 2015, three people were arrested for violent disorder after clashes in Manchester before a Champions League match between City and Sevilla.
Mark Roberts, spokesman for the National Police Chiefs’ Council and Chief Constable of Cheshire, said: “We have seen a significant increase in crime and disorder in and around football fixtures in recent times and that often extends beyond the immediate vicinity of the stadium.
“This impacts on local communities and the police who are left to deploy additional resources, none of which the clubs pay for.
“We need to work in partnership with the leagues, clubs, safety advisory groups and government to address the trends we are seeing in football.”
The Premier League was approached for comment.
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CRIMES committed within a 500-metre radius of Premier League football grounds on match days between 2014 and 2021:
Newcastle 23,172 Tottenham 12,217 Chelsea 11,228 Arsenal 10,885 Everton 10,456 Wolves 7,832 Southampton 7,244 Brentford 7,083 Liverpool 6,577 Crystal Palace 5,612 Leeds United 4,783 West Ham Utd 4,628 Aston Villa 4,305 Man City 3,748 Man United 2,858 Fulham 2,437 Nott’m Forest 2,414 Leicester City 2,268 Bournemouth 1,506 Brighton 944