Chelsea home supporters are more likely to be arrested for hate crimes than any other London Premier League side, Daily Mail analysis shows.
And football fans attending Stamford Bridge are twice more likely to be nicked for racism or homophobia related crimes than at any of Chelsea’s London rivals, according to Met Police data and attendance statistics.
Supporters attending matches at the homes of Queens Park Rangers, Millwall, Leyton Orient and West Ham also make up the top five, of the capital’s 12 stadiums in the top three tiers.
Police made 119 arrests for hate crimes or hate-related public order offences at football matches during the 2024/25 season at the 12 clubs, according to Met Police data obtained in a Freedom of Information request.
Almost all were related to racism or homophobia although there was one arrest for tragedy chanting.
Forty of them came at Stamford Bridge in Chelsea’s 28 home fixtures in all competitions – working out at an average of 1.4 hate arrests per match – as they finished fourth in the Premier League and won the Europa Conference League.
Just under 1.1 million fans attended those matches, which included supporters from Belgium, Armenia, Ireland, Denmark, Poland and Sweden – although no foreign fan was arrested for hate crimes.
There were 138 arrests for all crimes at the stadium.
And the number of hate arrests at the stadium was more than double any other London club – with 19 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium – the second most.
One in 27,099 people attending a game at Chelsea were arrested for hate-related offences.
That is more than double those attending Loftus Road – which had the second-highest rate, where one in 55,109 were handcuffed for such offences.
The Den, home to Millwall – a club which a historic reputation for hooliganism, ranked third, with one in 61,293 fans arrested for hate crimes.
Leyton Orient’s Brisbane Road was one in 69,814 and West Ham’s London Stadium was one in 88,157.
Tottenham’s stadium came sixth, with one in 91,159 attendees arrested, while the Emirates was ninth, with one in 128,762.
At the other end, there wasn’t a single hate arrest at Crystal Palace’s Selhurst Park.
While Fulham’s Craven Cottage, just a mile from Stamford Bridge, had a rate of one in 263,310 – with fans 10 times less likely to be arrested for hate crimes than at Chelsea.
The arrests are just the tip of the iceberg because many hate incidents go unreported, according to one expert.
‘Fans have told me that they have reported issues to stewards, clubs, or police and the complaint has disappeared into the ether,’ Dr Mark Doidge, a lecturer in Sociology of Sport at the University of Loughborough, told the Daily Mail.
‘They then feel despondent and less likely to complain in the future,’ Dr Doidge, who is also the Director of the Anti-Discrimination Division of Football Supporters Europe, said.
‘I have also heard stories of club officials minimising the experience so that it doesn’t show as an incident in the reports.
‘This is why the [growing] numbers can be seen as a positive as it means the police and clubs are taking it seriously – unless the incident was so bad that it was impossible to downgrade it to just “banter”.’
Disabled fans will often experience hate crimes which aren’t reported or escalated, while sexism including misogynistic chanting or comments are not hate crimes under the law, he added.
‘Unless there is a physical threat, often this is not reported to police.’
A spokesperson for Kick It Out, football’s anti-discrimination charity, admitted it is ‘not a surprise that hate-related arrests are an issue in London’s stadiums’ and that they ‘know of people who have been put off football for years after experiencing discrimination at matches‘.
‘We know this is an issue that is not going away,’ they added.
But some clubs believe higher arrest rates are down to more stringent security and show that they take hate crimes seriously.
It also reflects that supporters may feel comfortable reporting others when they may not have in the past.
The supplied data only looks at arrests and does not mean they were all convicted.
The overall stadium arrest figures also include away fans.
Chelsea home supporters are more likely to be arrested for hate crimes than any other London side, Daily Mail analysis shows
West Ham had the highest number of fans arrested for hate crimes at 13 but their attendance was significantly higher than at Stamford Bridge
No exact arrest rate can be calculated for home and away fans individually because precise away attendances are not provided by clubs.
While 12 Chelsea home fans were nicked for hate crimes over the season.
But West Ham’s 62,500 capacity London Stadium dwarfs Stamford Bridge’s 40,000 seats.
The Irons also saw 150,000 more fans attend fixtures than their London rivals last season.
Arsenal saw eight home fans arrested for hate incidents, and Tottenham came in fourth with eight.
Millwall had six home supporters, Brentford, QPR, Wimbledon and Leyton Orient had two and Charlton had one.
Neither Fulham or Crystal Palace had a home fan arrested for hate offences.
Supporters face Football Banning Orders and jail time if convicted of the crimes.
Mark Mogan, 47, was charged with racially abusing Antoine Semenyo when his Bournemouth side faced Liverpool at Anfield in August, leading to the game being temporarily suspended in the 29th minute.
He appeared in court and is banned from every football stadium in the UK as part of his bail conditions.
Following the alleged abuse, Semenyo, 25, said he wanted prison time and life bans as punishments for racial abuse
‘There has to be something else the authorities can do,’ he said.
There were 46 Arsenal fans arrested last season – the most of any club in London
‘It’s mind-boggling to be honest. I feel like the punishment isn’t enough when things like this happen. I feel like people do get away with it.’
Asked what the punishment should be, he said: ‘It could be jail time, it could be banned from stadiums for a lifetime, it could be anything along the lines of that, but I feel like there has to be something else.’
Across the country, hate crimes were recorded at 420 matches in England’s top five leagues last season.
Of the hate crime reports, 287 matches saw incidents related to race, 140 to sexual orientation, 20 to religion, 19 to disability and three to gender identity.
The number of hate crime reports was up from 341 in the 2023-24 season.
A Kick It Out Spokesperson said: ‘Recent Home Office data shows that there were 420 hate crime reports at stadiums across the country last season, a record since it started gathering data in 2017-18, so it’s not a surprise that hate-related arrests are an issue in London’s stadiums.
‘Every instance of a hate crime can have huge consequences for match-going fans. We know of people who have been put off football for years after experiencing discrimination at matches.
‘Football has taken steps to make the game more welcoming, including some homophobic chants now being classed as a hate crime and therefore a chargeable offence by the FA, but these figures show football cannot be complacent.
‘Reports of discrimination to Kick It Out have also increased since last season, so we know this is an issue that is not going away.’
‘Sometimes it looks like hate crime is on the rise, but it can also mean that police and clubs are taking it seriously,’ Dr Doidge said.
‘I would argue that at this point it is a positive as it means that clubs and police are taking the issue seriously.’
Meanwhile, according to police data, the capital’s ‘most dangerous’ ground is the Gtech Community Stadium, with one person arrested in every 6,887 who attended a game.
Stamford Bridge ranks second, with one in 7,854 arrested. The Den is third, with one in 11,492.
Loftus Road, one in 12,858 and The Valley, one in 15,868, make up the rest of the top five.
AFC Wimbledon’s Plough Lane was the ‘least dangerous’, with only three fans arrested last season.
The League One club had a total attendance of 208,073, meaning just one in 69,357 were arrested.
There were 40 hate crime arrests at Stamford Bridge, including home and away fans, during the 2024/25 season
One in every 6,887 people attending a game at Brentford were arrested but it ranked seven out of 12 for hate crime arrests
Craven Cottage had the second-lowest rate, with one in 30,977. Brisbane Road closely followed in third least – with one in 29,920 fans arrested.
A Brentford FC spokesperson said: ‘Our priority is the safety and enjoyment of all those who attend a matchday and we have strong security measures in place to ensure fans have a positive experience at our stadium.
‘We have zero tolerance towards drugs usage, any form of hate crime, discrimination or violence and work hard to make sure this has no place in our stadium – 70 per cent of all arrests last season involved visiting supporters.
‘Our dedicated safety and security teams work in collaboration with the relevant authorities to take swift action and we actively encourage reporting among fans with a text alert system and messaging around the stadium to make it as easy as possible.
‘We are proud that since our promotion to the Premier League in 2021, Brentford has consistently ranked the most welcoming stadium in the Premier League’s matchday fan experience and engagement survey. We remain committed to doing all we can to ensure the Gtech Community Stadium is a safe environment for all fans.
A QPR spokesperson said the club ‘operates a zero-tolerance policy towards all forms of discrimination and anti-social behaviour’.
‘We work closely with the Metropolitan Police and local authorities to ensure MATRADE Loftus Road is a safe place for all supporters in attendance,’ they added.
