Manchester United fans were involved in more football-related arrests where racism was an aggravating factor or a feature than any other club in England in the four seasons up to 2017-18, data from the Home Office shows.
Data released under a Freedom of Information request shows that 27 individuals recorded as United fans by police were arrested during the seasons 2014-15 to 2017-18, with Leeds and Millwall both having 15 supporters arrested in the period.
Where racism has been recorded as a feature of an incident it requires the arresting officer to tick a box, which is why the Home Office says the overall accuracy of the data cannot be guaranteed.
Manchester United pointed out that their large attendances meant the 27 fans equated to just 0.0004 per cent of their match-going fanbase.
Leeds said that racism will not tolerated by them or the “vast majority of our community and fan base” and those arrested also represented a very small minority.
“We have worked closely with West Yorkshire Police and the British Transport Police in recent years, in an effort to reduce the number of arrests involving our supporters at our games in general,” Leeds said in a statement.
“A Supporter Advisory Board was also set up in 2017 which convenes every four months and welcomes supporters from all walks of life to help the club become more inclusive.
“We believe that we have made great steps towards making improvements — however clearly this is a work in progress and we are committed with the help of the FA, EFL, Kick It Out and police to do anything we can to eradicate this vile issue from the game.”
Here is the full list of football-related arrests where racism was a feature during the seasons 2014-15 to 2017-18, broken down by the club supported:
Man Utd 27
Leeds 15
Millwall 15
Leicester 14
Chelsea 13
West Ham 11
Barnsley 10
Man City 10
Middlesbrough 10
Sunderland 10
Fulham 9
Swansea 9
Everton 8
Not Completed 8
Rotherham 8
Stoke 8
Aston Villa 7
Derby 7
Huddersfield 7
Liverpool 7
Newcastle 7
Norwich 7
Arsenal 6
England 6
Portsmouth 6
West Brom 6
Hull 5
Nottm Forest 5
Tranmere 5
Birmingham 4
Bournemouth 4
Brentford 4
Bristol Rovers 4
Carlisle 4
Gillingham 4
QPR 4
Sheff Utd 4
Southampton 4
Swindon 4
Tottenham 4
Wolves 4
AFC Wimbledon 3
Bolton 3
Bradford 3
Brighton 3
Burnley 3
Club Brugge 3
Luton 3
Oxford 3
Reading 3
Sheff Wed 3
Watford 3
Anderlecht 2
Bristol City 2
Cardiff 2
Charlton 2
Coventry 2
Grimsby 2
Northampton 2
Port Vale 2
Preston 2
Rochdale 2
Accrington 1
Barrow 1
Bromley 1
Burton 1
Bury 1
Cambridge 1
Chester 1
Chesterfield 1
Colchester 1
Crystal Palace 1
Doncaster 1
Exeter 1
Ipswich 1
Leyton Orient 1
Mansfield 1
MK Dons 1
Newport 1
Notts County 1
Peterborough 1
Plymouth 1
Stevenage 1
Wigan 1
Wycombe 1
