Morecambe Football Club fan banned from all matches

Football banning orders are given to those who commit certain offences within a stadium, travelling to or from a game, or are crimes that are deemed to be football-related.

If issued, the fan cannot go to any football match within the UK, and has to surrender their passport when a national game is played outside the country.

There was one football banning order in force for a Morecambe fan at the end of last season.

This was was issued during the 2021-22 season.

Across England and Wales, football-related disorder has surged.

Football-related arrests were up by 59% compared to 2018-19, the last season undisrupted by the pandemic, to 2,198.

The was also the highest number since 2,273 were made in the 2013-14 season.

And the authorities dished out 516 new football banning orders in total, meaning 1,308 were in force by the summer of 2022.

Chief Constable Mark Roberts, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for football policing, said: “Disorder is a problem that has not gone away, and throughout the whole of last season we saw an increase in crime at football matches across the country – from the Premier League right down to the National League.”

The Premier League saw the most banning orders of England and Wales’ top five leagues, with 412 in force at the end of the season, while League One fans were issued 238.

The figures also show there were five football-related arrests of Morecambe fans last season – the most since at least the 2014/15 season, when figures are first available.

West Ham had the highest number of arrests for a single club – 95 across the season – followed by Manchester City with 76, and Manchester United with 72.

Nationally, hate crime was reported 384 times, and drug use 170 times – both all-time highs.

Home Office Minister Jeremy Quin said: “The increase in football-related arrests shows that police are taking firm action to stop this disorder and preserve the enjoyment of the game for fans and families which I wholeheartedly support.”