Manchester United had the highest number of racism-related arrests among English football clubs between 2014 and 2018.
Some 27 people recorded as fans of the Old Trafford club were detained over the four seasons, according to data released by the Press Association after a freedom of information request.
Championship rivals Leeds United and Millwall were joint second in reported arrests, with 15 fans each. Leicester and Chelsea were next in line with 14 and 13 arrests, respectively, while West Ham, Barnsley, Manchester City and Middlesbrough all hit double figures.
Reports of discrimination at English football venues rose for the sixth year in a row, hitting 520 total incidents, according to data released by equality and inclusion organisation Kick It Out.
Racism constituted 53 per cent of discriminatory incidents during the 2017-18 season with 273 reports – a rise of 22 per cent from the previous year.
Ten per cent of all reports for the 2017-18 season concerned antisemitism.
The charity’s statistics are compiled from all levels of the game, including the Premier League, English Football League (EFL), FA Women’s Super League, non-league and grassroots fixtures.
A Manchester United spokesperson said: “There is no place for racism within our game, or in society as a whole, and we are committed to working to make football free from all forms of discrimination, whether through our own ‘All Red All Equal’ campaign or in support of Kick It Out and other organisations.
“This statistic applies to 0.0004% of our match-going fanbase. It does not reflect the views or behaviour of our fans as a whole in any way. We continue with monitoring and liaison with authorities to try and identify and eradicate any forms of discriminatory behaviour, and we take appropriate action if it occurs.”
According to Kick It Out, disability discrimination reports rose higher than any other in 2017-18, increasing by 107 per cent from 14 to 29.
Discrimination cases reported at EFL matches have risen by 30 per cent, and across the entire professional game there was a 10 per cent increase overall from 194 in 2016-17 to 214 in 2017-18.
Image: Pixabay
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