No Shrimps fans arrested during Morecambe FC matches last season

New Home Office figures show police arrested zero Morecambe FC supporters throughout the 2022-23 campaign – down from five the season before.

Nationally, 2,264 football-related arrests were made, up from what was already an eight-year high of 2,198 in the previous campaign.

This included 200 arrests for the possession of class A drugs – which was added as an offence under the Football Spectators Act in November – and 101 arrests in England and Wales relating to the World Cup in Qatar.

Other offences include throwing missiles, violent and public disorder, alcohol-related offences and ticket touting.

A record 197 fans were arrested for throwing a missile across England and Wales – but none of these were Morecambe supporters.

The National Police Chiefs Council said the police "are continuing to take positive action" to reduce a rising trend in disorder at football matches.

Chief Con Mark Roberts, NPCC lead for football policing, said: "It is encouraging to see a slight reduction in the number of reported incidents, but we must put this into context and remember that the level of disorder we are seeing across football continues to be much higher than before the pandemic.

"Police are continuing to take positive action to reverse this trend by making a high number of arrests."

In 2022-23, incidents were reported at 1,516 of 3,024 monitored matches (50%) – slightly lower than the 53% of matches in 2021-22.

Last season also saw the highest number of new banning orders handed out since the 2010-11 season.

Douglas Mackay, sports lead prosecutor at the Crown Prosecution Service, said football banning orders are "one of the many tools available to the justice system" to help reduce disorder at football matches.

Mr Mackay added: "At the CPS, we play a crucial role in tackling these crimes and making our national game inclusive, and safe to watch and play in. There is no place for violent and hateful criminal acts in football, and incidents such as these have a significant negative impact on players, spectators, and the integrity of the game.”