FLW looks into how many Saints fans got in trouble with the law last season
Southampton fans have enjoyed Premier League football for a very long time, spending 10 straight years either surviving or consolidating themselves in the top flight of the English game.
Their luck ran out however earlier in 2023 when after a dismal season, the Saints were relegated back to the Championship for the first time since 2012.
The Home Office have now released figures on the number of arrests of English and Welsh football fans from last season, and per a write-up from the Stoke Sentinel, Southampton rank highly in the standings that they don’t want to be top of.
The Saints saw 39 arrests of their supporters at matches last season, which was one of the highest in the country.
How does the amount of Southampton fans arrested in 2022/23 compare to other teams?
Southampton’s numbers were nowhere close to what the top arrested fanbases racked up though, with West Ham United being the most troublesome of the campaign.
The Hammers had 89 supporter arrests across the season, which was closely followed by Man United with their 83 arrests.
The list then continues with clubs who were in the Premier League last season, with Leeds United fans arrested 69 times, followed by Man City with 66 arrests.
North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal were equal with 51 arrests a piece, whilst Burnley were the first Championship club to make an appearance with 50 arrests made of their supporter base.
There were five other clubs above Southampton when it came to arrests, with these being Leicester City, Everton, Birmingham, Millwall, and Chelsea.
Alongside Southampton on 39 arrests were Newcastle United, with both clubs being the joint 13th-most arrested across the course of the 2022-23 season.
In comparison, the Saints’ bitter south coast rivals Portsmouth ranked far lower, with only 16 arrests for their supporters at matches, although if the two clubs were able to play each other and weren’t in different leagues then the figures would likely be a little bit higher for both teams.
There were plenty of clubs however with absolutely zero arrests whatsoever during the entire season, with many of them coming in the National League.
However, League Two sides such as Salford City, Sutton United, Morecambe and Harrogate Town all registered blanks in the arrest department, which is something to be proud about.
The lowest ranked Premier League team for arrests last season were AFC Bournemouth, who saw just seven of their fans arrested, whilst Crystal Palace were just behind them with 14 taken away by the police.
For the Championship, Rotherham United were the best-behaved fanbase with just the four arrests made by police over the season, so don’t expect it to be too rowdy when the Saints head to the New York Stadium this season.
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