Sharp rise in hooliganism

The number of alleged football hooligans handed banning orders rocketed from less than 700 to 1,149 last year, new Government figures reveal today.

Arrests for all football-related violence fell by 6% during the same period from 4,162 to 3,898.

There were 3,214 arrests at league matches, up 23 on the previous year.

Stoke City claimed the dubious honour of the largest number of fans arrested, with 143 held during the year - nearly triple the number in the previous 12 months.

The club with the second largest number was Sunderland, with 129 (down from 166 previously) and then Manchester City with 106 (down from 148).

There were 687 banning orders - which prevent suspected hooligans from travelling to games - in force on August 12 last year, but by this month that figure had risen 67% to 1,149, the figures showed.

The Home Office said arrests for football-related offences in connection with league matches had fallen 30% in the last 10 years, from 4,588 in the 1992-93 season to 3,214 last season.