OXFORD UNITED fans were arrested four times for their behaviour at football matches last season.

One supporter was arrested for a pitch incursion and another for throwing 'missiles', the latest Home Office figures have revealed.

Last season another two fans were arrested for violent disorder and alcohol offences or driving under the influence of drugs.

Two of the arrests were at home games at the city's Kassam Stadium and the other two were at away matches – but the data hasn’t revealed exactly where the fans were when they were caught by police.

The UK’s football police chief said disorder was on the rise across the top five divisions before coronavirus restrictions forced more than 500 fixtures to be cancelled or played behind closed doors.

The football season lasts from August to May, but fans were stopped from going to any matches when games were halted in March due to the coronavirus lockdown.

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Deputy chief constable Mark Roberts said police normally see more incidents at seasons end, when titles and relegation battles are decided.

He said: “What we can see is that prior to the restrictions from Covid-19, there was already an increase in the levels of disorder at fixtures.

Oxford Mail:

“In the previous season, there were incidents reported at 33 per cent of 3,022 fixtures, and for the 2019-20 season, there were incidents reported at 36 per cent of the 2,663 regulated fixtures.

“Significantly, the number of assaults against stadium staff and police officers are worryingly close to what we saw from a full season in 2018-19.”

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In the last six seasons, no Oxford United fans have been arrested for criminal damage, breach of banning orders, possession of weapons, ticket touting or racist chanting.

In 2014/15 there were five arrests with that jumping up to 22 the following season.

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In 2016/15 another 15 people were arrested and in 2017/18 there were only five. In 2018/19 fans were arrested eight times – five times at home games. Four of these were for public disorder offences, three for violence, and once for pitch incursion.

As of August, nine banning orders had been issued to U's fans. They prevent an individual from attending all regulated matches across the UK.