Sheffield football: How safe are Bramall Lane and Hillsborough Stadium as footie-arrests hit nine year peak

A ranking table has been released looking at which of the UK’s football stadiums are the ‘safest’ on match days – and it seems Sheffield's two biggest grounds tell very different stories.

Analysis of arrests shows more than one person out of every 40 spectators at a Sheffield United home match spoils the fun.

The study by Live Football Tickets compared the average number of spectators at each football ground between 2021 and 2023 against the average number of crime incidents annually within one kilometre of the venue – including anti-social behaviour, theft and violent or sexual offences.

The ‘safest’ ground in England was Old Trafford for Manchester United, with only 4 recorded crime incidents out of some 1,249,353 average annual spectators.

In comparison, the ‘roughest’ in England is reportedly Hartlepool United’s Victoria Park, where despite only seeing an average of 76,774 people a year it reports 13,907 incidents annually – or 18.11 incidents per 100 people.

Out of Sheffield's two stadiums, the Blades' Bramall Lane ranked 46th out of 86 football stadiums for the most crime incidents. The study determined that the home of Sheffield United saw 13,965 incidents in those two years against 543,741 average annual visitors – an average rate of one incident spoiling the fun per 40 guests.

Meanwhile, Hillsborough Stadium was shown to be one of the safest in the country.

The home of Sheffield Wednesday recorded 4,432 incidents in those two years against 470,245 visitors – meaning one in 100 people cause a problem on average, and placing as 75th out of 86 stadiums for the number of crimes.

It means Bramall Lane’s estimated crime rate is more than twice as much as Hillsborough despite only being around 15 per cent busier every year.

However, it also means Bramall Lane fared better than all other South Yorkshire football stadiums.

Rotherham United’s New York Stadium ranked as the ‘roughest’ stadium in South Yorkshire and 25th for the most crime incidents per spectator, with a reported 8,201 incidents between 2021-2023 against a much smaller 193,000 annual spectators, a rate of 4.25 crimes per 100 spectators or around one incident per 23 fans.

Barnsley’s Oakwell ranked 27th, and had issues with one fan in 27 based on 8,986 incidents out of 249,735 average annual spectators.

Doncaster Rovers ranked 44th, with 2,795 incidents in two years against 105,174 spectators.

Violent and sexual offences was the most recorded incident at all stadiums, but lumped both crimes together and did not distinguish between the two.