Wolves fans some of worst for bans

More than 200 football hooligans in the Black Country and Birmingham were arrested last year, official figures today reveal.

Home Office statistics have revealed the number of arrests last season and total number of fans subject to footballing banning orders for each club in the Premier League and Championship.

Wolves supporters were branded some the worst in the top two divisions for the number of banning orders, which stop supporters attending games, with 98 listed by last season. The figures also show 61 supporters were arrested last season, when the club was still in the Championship.

Wolves spokesman Paul Berry said: "As a football club, we take our responsibilities for crowd safety very seriously and pursue a zero tolerance policy when it comes to fans who are involved in disorder.

"We work very closely with West Midlands Police to ensure that any Wolverhampton Wanderers supporter involved in a football-related disturbance will be dealt with proportionately and correctly.

"It must be remembered that our attendances were among the highest in the division, and the number of people banned is not even one per one thousand of our average home attendance for that season.

"Moreover the figure for arrests has actually decreased from the previous season."

Last season Aston Villa recorded 77 fan arrests, West Bromwich Albion had 26 while Birmingham City recorded 69. Banning orders totalled 79 for Aston Villa, 73 for Birmingham City and 37 for West Bromwich Albion. Nationally there were 3,752 arrests at matches in England and Wales – a fall of two per cent on the 2007/8 season.

Half were for disorder and around a third for alcohol offences. Other arrests were for ticket touting and violence. Manchester United fans topped the Premier League arrest charts. Of 1,600 arrests of fans with clubs in the top flight, 185 were followers of the league title holders.

Birmingham City spokesman Chris Kershaw said: "The new board of directors and everyone else here at Birmingham City is absolutely committed to ensuring that the stadium has a family-orientated atmosphere."

And West Bromwich Albion spokesman John Simpson added: "The figures prove we had one of the best behaved sets of supporters in the Premier League and we will continue to work closely with the relevant authorities to enable our fans to follow the team in the safest possible environment."

International matches involving England or Wales at home and abroad led to 35 arrests. Policing minister David Hanson said: "Hooligans once blighted our national game, but we now set an example for the rest of the world in how we police football matches. I am pleased with the way clubs and police work together, but we must also praise fans for realising violence has no place in the modern game."