Which Premier League Club Has the Most Arrested Fans? Six Seasons of Data Revealed

By Christopher Boan

Mar 3rd, 2026 11:06 AM EST

Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah (11) and Manchester United defender Harry Amass (41) battle for the ball (USATODAY)

As the 2025-26 Premier League docket rolls on and a tight race between Arsenal and Manchester City unfolds atop the league table, it’s high time to take a step back and look at the broader scope of football fandom, even beyond the best new UK betting sites.

To do that, the team at Bookies.com analysed six seasons of Premier League arrest data - over 3,100 arrests across 26 clubs - to reveal which fan bases have the worst record for football-related offences, from violent disorder to pyrotechnics.

What the Premier League Arrest Data Tells Us

Our data covers 26 clubs that appeared in the Premier League across the study period - including clubs that have since been relegated - and breaks down each club's arrest total by 12 distinct offence types, from violent disorder and public disorder through to pyrotechnics, Class A drug possession and ticket touting.

Manchester United top the overall table with 306 arrests across the six seasons, narrowly ahead of West Ham United (296) and Manchester City (278). The data also surfaces some less obvious stories: Newcastle United's disproportionately high Class A drug arrests (48), West Ham's dominance in the throwing missiles category (47) and the outsized role of Class A drug offences at several top clubs relative to their overall arrest numbers.

As Sunderland were promoted for the 2025/26 Premier League season but were not in the top flight during any of the six seasons covered by the data, they do not appear in the chart.

Don’t forget about Premier League Futures, too, which allow you to place long-term bets on the likes of the league winner and top goalscorer.

Manchester United: A Club Atop An Unenviable Race

Manchester United have enjoyed a remarkable turnaround on the pitch this season as they sit comfortably inside the top-five of the Premier League odds board, a far cry from the 15th position they finished in last term, but the fact remains that the legendary club's fanbase is just as notorious as ever.

That’s because the club’s fans far and away outdid the rest of their peers, arrest-wise, with Man United leading the way in terms of total arrests (306), Class A drug arrests (55), alcohol offences (29) and tied with West Ham United atop the list of the most criminal damage cases (with six).

Throw in the fact that The Red Devils fanbase ranked second when it came to violent disorder arrests (with 71, one less than Tottenham Hotspur) and entering the pitch offences (with 13, behind Everton’s 21) and you have a pretty good summation of the disarray that Manchester United’s supporters have brought on in recent years.

West Ham United: A Miserable Season Begets Fanbase Disorder

While Manchester United’s league year has been one of redemption, the opposite is true of West Ham United, who are currently sat in the relegation zone after finishing 14th last season..

While The Hammers have struggled on the pitch and at bookmakers like bet365, their fans have punched above their weight class in recent years, arrest-wise, with West Ham United scoring 296 arrests and leading the way among Premier League fanbases when it came to public disorder citations, with 113.

Throw in that West Ham supporters had a league-high 47 citations for throwing missiles and six criminal damage arrests (ranking in a tie with Man United for the top spot leaguewide) and you have a decent idea why the East London club is a leading candidate for chaos whenever their fans come to town.

Who Else Cracked the Premier League Top Five?

While clubs like Manchester United and West Ham United scored decisive arrest advantages over their fanbase brethren, that’s not to say that they were alone in their fanbase debauchery.

That’s because three more clubs, in Manchester City (278 arrests), Everton (216 arrests) and Chelsea (203 arrests) managed to see their fans crack the 200 arrest mark over the six-year period in question.

In Manchester City’s case, the club’s 108 public disorder and 56 violent disorder arrests helped pad their six-year arrest total, with The Citizens finishing second leaguewide in each category but racking up enough citations to stay ahead of Everton and Chelsea.

Everton had a league-high 21 entering the pitch citations during the period in question, while also leading the Premier League when it came to pyrotechnics violations, with 19.

Chelsea’s fans didn’t lead any arrest category, though they managed to rack up an impressive number of citations across multiple categories including 62 public disorder arrests (good for sixth leaguewide), 57 violent disorder arrests (ranking third leaguewide) and 31 Class A drug arrests (ranking sixth overall) - helping push The Blues into fifth place overall.

Which Premier League Fanbases Were The Best Behaved?

While the teams at the bottom of our Premier League arrests list are largely ones that have shuffled in and out of league play via relegation during the period in question, the club with the lowest arrest total that’s stuck around for the six-year period is Brighton & Hove Albion.

The East Sussex squad’s fans ranked 18th out of 26 teams on our arrests leaderboard, with 69 citations, though the three clubs currently in the Premier League behind them (Brentford, Fulham and AFC Bournemouth) weren't all ever-presents during the six-year window in question.

Overall, the Seagulls had 32 arrests for public disorder and 16 more for violent disorder offences, while being one of 12 clubs to have zero racist/indecent citations during the six year period in question.

The only other club that stayed up for the entire period with less than 100 arrests was Crystal Palace, whose fans finished with 91 arrests to place 15th out of 26 teams, with 27 of those coming from public disorder citations and another 21 from violent disorder arrests.

With under three months to play in the league year, there’s still plenty of time for club supporters to rack up a few more offences across the nine categories that Bookies.com surveyed, though we’ll hope for everyone’s sake that the worst fan behavior is behind us.

METHODOLOGY

Arrest data was sourced from the Home Office Football Banning Orders Statistics dataset and the UK Government's published annual football arrest statistics. Both cover Premier League fixtures only and record arrests by the supported club of the individual arrested — meaning each arrest is attributed to the fan's club, not the home or away team playing that day.

Arrest totals were summed per club across all six seasons and broken down by 12 offense categories including violent disorder, public disorder, pyrotechnics, and Class A drug possession. Only Premier League fixtures were included in the analysis.

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