Record number of football hooligans banned
The government says England's participation in last summer's World Cup in Germany was a policing success
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Saturday, 21, Oct 2006 11:04
A record number of football banning orders have been imposed during the last year, official figures show.
But as banning orders increased by seven per cent in the last football season, arrests for football-related arrests fell by the same amount to 3,462.
The Home Office today said that the 3,387 banning orders now in place represented a "very encouraging" picture for football hooliganism.
"A seven per cent decrease in football-related arrests coupled with a seven per cent increase in football banning orders shows that tough legislation and targeted policing continues to be effective," said minister Vernon Coaker.
"This year's World Cup in Germany was very much a policing success. Over 350,000 England fans travelled to Germany; the vast majority behaved extremely well and were praised by the organising committee," he added, insisting that neither the government nor the police would become "complacent" on the "lingering menace".
Of the 3,387 banning orders, Championship side Leeds United received more than any other club in England with 115. Portsmouth and Cardiff City trailed closely behind on 110 and 109 banning orders respectively, while Stoke City's 108 and Manchester United's 106 gave the two teams fourth and fifth position in the unwanted league table.
Today's figures also reveal that the Premiership has overtaken England's second tier for the first time in terms of the total number of football-related arrests, with north London team Tottenham Hotspur taking the dubious honour of having the most fans detained.
Stephen Thomas, the Association of Chief Police Officers'lead on football issues and Assistant Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, said the figures reflected another "successful year" of football policing.
"This is a result of the collaboration between the police, Home Office, football authorities, clubs and their fans," he explained.
Meanwhile, FA chief executive Brian Barwick added: "We now have to take steps to deal with the drunken yob culture that we saw spoiling our participation in the World Cup in Germany.
"The latest figures confirm a very positive trend over recent years. They reflect the positive impact of banning orders and effective policing in reducing disorder at football matches and the on-going culture change among the fans themselves."