English football has experienced a sharp rise in anti-social behaviour and violence following the end of lockdowns, according to government statistics.
There were 2,198 football-related arrests in the 2021–22 season, up 59 percent from the last comparable pre-pandemic period in 2018–19, according to official statistics from the Home Office.
Senior law lecturer Professor Geoff Pearson, an expert in football crowd disorder and hooliganism at the University of Manchester, told The Epoch Times that it’s clear there has been an uptick in certain low-level disorder and anti-social behavior that followed the end of lockdowns.
18-Month Break
Pearson warned in February that the 18-month break in football crowds could get worse towards the business end of the season, stirring up fears of a return to the days of the football firms of the 1970s and ’80s….