Arrests of Carlisle United fans at football matches increased last season according to new data.

It comes as the number of arrests made at football games across England and Wales reached a nine-year high.

Offences include throwing missiles, violent and public disorder, alcohol-related offences, and ticket touting.

Home Office figures show police arrested 11 Carlisle United supporters throughout the 2022-23 campaign – up from five the season before.

It comes at a time in which the club achieved their best average home crowd for 15 seasons during their push for promotion.

The club's chief executive Nigel Clibbens specified that despite numerous warnings about the consequences of inappropriate conduct among a few fans, incidents lead to arrests 'too often'.

“Over the course of last season we issued a number of warnings about the consequences of bad behaviour by a tiny minority of fans," he said. 

“Too often last year we had incidents which led to some arrests, and we have seen some fans end up in court with Football Banning orders.  In addition, the club has issued its own banning orders.

“In 2022/23 we had close to 170,000 fans attend home games at Brunton Park, so it is clear that incidents and arrests are a tiny fraction of supporters – less than 1/100th of 1 percent of those attending. 

“But the impact is significant. All of these incidents harm us. They damage our reputation and result in higher stewarding and policing costs. 

"They result in fines and affect the fan experience for all supporters, not just those misbehaving," he said. 

Nationally,  2,264 football-related arrests were made.

This included 200 arrests for the possession of class A drugs – which was added as an offence under the Football Spectators Act in November – and 101 arrests in England and Wales relating to the World Cup in Qatar.

But for Carlisle United fans, no arrests were made for possessing class A drugs.

A record 197 fans were arrested for throwing a missile across England and Wales – of them, three were Carlisle United supporters.

“Carlisle United Football Club is committed to providing an enjoyable atmosphere and safe game environment for everyone who comes to Brunton Park.

“The passionate support of our fans is a vital part of what makes coming to our games, home and away so special - we saw it again yesterday in another night to remember. We must not lose that - we need more of it!

“It is completely understandable that emotions run high, but that doesn’t need to lead to misbehaviour. It must not.

“We are continuing to work hard to address these issues, with police and fan groups, and we also need the support and help of every fan," he said.