By Joe Ellis

22nd Sep, 2022 | 3:40pm

West Ham United fans top Premier League arrests table in eight-year high

West Ham United supporters were arrested more than any other club’s fans over the course of the 2021-22 season, according to The Telegraph.

Arrest numbers have risen sharply with an increase in pitch invasions and flare throwing at the top level of the game with 2,198 fans detained throughout all 380 Premier League fixtures.

Of those arrests, 95 of them were West Ham supporters with the next worst offenders being reigning champions Manchester City with 76.

That number is the highest it has been since the 2013-14 season and Chief Constable Mark Roberts from the National Police Chief Council lead for football policing is concerned.

“The statistics released today show a worrying rise in these crimes, which are both extremely dangerous for players, staff and fellow fans alike,” he said. “As well as being banned, anyone who commits these offences should also expect to be prosecuted by the police.”

Do better

The context of all of these arrests might not be entirely the fault of the Irons fans but there is no getting away from the fact that this is not good enough.

A very small minority of people need to remember that it is not just the 11 players on the pitch who represent the football club every weekend but in fact everyone who turns up to support.

Every club has a small section of troublemakers who look to cause mayhem wherever they go but they could begin o tarnish the club as a whole if this level of ill-discipline continues into this season and beyond.

The problem for West Ham is that there isn’t a great deal more they can do to prevent these problems because they are already running a tight ship in security terms.

All they can do is beg their fans not to get up to no good on match days and hope they slide down this particular table.