Football hooligan figures show massive surge following Everton missile horror

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Football bosses face increasing pressure to stamp out the growing number of violent incidents inside stadiums this season.

Disorder at English grounds has risen by more than a third, compared to the 2019/20 campaign, according to new police figures.

Incidents include the use of pyrotechnics and missiles being hurled at players and hate crime, while the number of arrests at games are up by almost 50 per cent.

The news comes following a weekend that saw several high-profile incidents overshadow games. Two men were arrested at Stamford Bridge after objects were thrown at Antonio Rudiger during Chelsea's win over Tottenham.

Four arrests were made following disorder in the West Ham section following their loss at Manchester United, while Merseyside Police have charged a man after Aston Villa duo Lucas Digne and Matty Cash were both struck by a bottle as they celebrated their side's winning goal at Goodison Park.

The trouble comes just six months after fans high on drink and drugs and without tickets were involved in violent scenes that ruined England's Euro 2020 final with the Italians at Wembley.

The FA commissioned a review, which described the trouble as a "source of national shame" that could have led to fatalities.

Some of the recommendations included a call for a review of stewarding, stricter measures regarding the sale of alcohol and tougher penalties for individuals found guilty of football-related disorder.

The Premier League insisted at the start of this season stewards would be deployed at games to detect incidents of hate crime.

But Chief Constable Mark Roberts, the National Police Chief's lead officer for football policing, believes legislation needs to change, including banning the consumption of booze in the stands.

Roberts believes League bosses don't provide police with enough funding to deal with trouble – and insists there is not enough dialogue from those who run the sport.

He said: "I've not seen this happen (stewards report hate crime). None of the safety officers I speak to seem to have seen it.

"We have asked for information sharing agreements with the Premier League and Football League, because we want to share information.

"If we don't know what's going on, how can we deal with it? The Premier League is a billion pound industry, but we've had £7m paid to us for everything, while £300m has been paid to agents. Is that the right balance?"

In response, the Premier League said enhanced training for stewards would be rolled out at all clubs next month and denied it had a deteriorating relationship with police forces.

• Premier League

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