Football clubs have been urged to contribute more to the cost of match policing to ease the burden on taxpayers.

The current model whereby clubs are not responsible for policing expenses outside stadiums “simply cannot continue”, according to Chief Constable Mark Roberts, the UK’s football policing lead.

Statistics released on Thursday, external by the Home Office show incidents were reported at 1,644 matches last season in England and Wales – the highest figure since the UK Football Policing Unit (UKFPU) started collecting the data in 2017-18.

Chief Constable Roberts says taxpayers shouldered £70m of police funding for football matches last season, as part of a model which he believes “doesn’t work”.

“Football-related crime doesn’t simply stop when fans exit the stadium, but under the current system multi-billion-pound football clubs do not have to pay a penny towards the policing outside their grounds,” he said.

“This means that taxpayers are left footing the £70m bill each season, which simply cannot continue.”

Roberts’ comments come as statistics show an increase in “high severity” incidents at football matches last season.

Of the incidents reported, 159 were classed as “high severity” – up from 106 in the previous season.

Geoff Pearson, a professor of law at the University of Manchester and leading researcher in crowd behaviour, says he is not alarmed by the figures.

He points to reported incidents being different to football-related arrests and other police actions – of which there were 1,963 last season, down on the previous campaign.

The increase could be because clubs using improved recording systems and devices, he says.

Pearson says that arrests for violent disorder going down by 3% is an indicator of the UK police’s good work, adding that “football policing in this country is the envy of much of the world”.

“I’m not alarmed by the statistic in the slightest. If there had been a 50% increase in high severity incidents, I would expect violent disorder to have gone up, not down,” said Pearson.

“When lockdown happened in this country the British police continued to improve their practices. When there was that uptick in disorder across the world in football, the British police need to be commended to sticking to their guns and introducing things like safe standing.

“These statistics point to the reward of them doing that.”

In the 2021-22 season, when fans returned to stadiums following the Covid-19 pandemic, there were 2,198 football-related arrests with statistics remaining similar for the following two seasons.

That number decreased to 2,004 in the 2024-25 season, before falling by 40 again last season.

Pearson says the number of arrests falling, despite the increase in football-related offences going up over the last few years, is another indicator of the work being done by police.

Unauthorised entry at matches became a criminal offence in March as part of new legislation, while in 2024 the possession of class A drugs was also included in football-related arrests.

TAMPA, Fla. — Once college football’s most famous social media poster, Lane Kiffin says he does not miss Instagram or X.

The first-year LSU coach, who left College Football Playoff-bound Ole Miss for the Tigers last fall, has not posted on Instagram in more than two months. He hasn’t really posted on the app formerly known as Twitter since mid-May, either.

You can thank (or blame) his son, Knox.

As Kiffin explained Thursday at SEC media days, his son challenged him this spring to stay off social media.

“So I just got off of everything,” Kiffin said. “Don’t even have the apps, so it’s not even like I read it, either.”

Kiffin previously made regular contributions ranging from recruiting stops to restaurant menus to graphics about the Tigers’ other teams. At times, his book excerpts and subtweets lit up message boards. Every now and then, he trolled rivals.

But the biggest change is more about Kiffin as a consumer. By avoiding the apps entirely, he ignores the inevitable comparisons that come with social media about what other people are doing or wearing.

“When you don’t see that all day, you’re free of that comparison,” Kiffin said.

He’s also says he’s free of what others are saying about him — probably a good thing, considering some of the backlash he continues to receive over his exit from Ole Miss. Kiffin shrugged off a question about whether he gets a bad rap.

“Well, the good thing is I don’t know if I do because I don’t read anything,” Kiffin said. “So it really is a different way of not seeing.”

Kiffin said he had no long-term plan when he started the cleanse in May. It doesn’t sound as if he has a plan to resume posting for his followers (a combined count of more than one million) anytime soon.

One of the most talked about young players in England’s academy system, director of football Jason Wilcox was personally involved in persuading Gabriel to remain at United last summer.

It is part of a concerted effort to bring promising young talents to the Old Trafford club, which Thompson’s arrival from Tottenham is part of.

Gabriel first came to notice outside United circles in April 2025.

Striker Victor Musa scored six times as United beat Leeds 13-1 in a lopsided Premier Under 18 League encounter.

But neither the score, nor Musa’s double hat-trick was the main talking point that day – it was a 25-minute cameo from Gabriel on his debut, then aged just 14 and a half.

Pace, balance and control were already evident. He also scored twice to show he has an eye for goal.

He built on that early promise last season. For most of the campaign he seemed destined to finish as the league’s top scorer, only for Manchester City‘s Teddie Lamb to pip him in the final couple of games.

Gabriel was a stand-out performer last term, scoring 29 times in 32 appearances for the Red Devils, helping the them to reach the FA Youth Cup and Premier League Under-18 cup finals.

He was initially called up for first-team training by Ruben Amorim and has been a regular since, with Carrick keeping a close eye on United’s academy teams.

Gabriel was not involved in last week’s defeat by Wrexham in Helsinki as he had returned to training less than a week earlier, but United are carefully handling a precocious talent.

The teenager was invited into the directors’ box on a number of occasions last season and met with Sir Alex Ferguson following a draw against West Ham at Old Trafford in December.

Such access is not commonplace, which underlines how much promise United see in the youngster.

For context, Gabriel is just about to enter his GCSE year. He played – and scored – in last season’s FA Youth Cup at a younger age than legendary Manchester United figures such as Duncan Edwards and Eddie Colman from the Busby Babes and also Ryan Giggs.

Of course, there have been plenty of talented young players – Arsenal‘s Max Dowman is a current example. Not all fulfil their potential.

What offers additional hope around Gabriel is his size.

He has made such a significant impact despite his slight frame. United’s coaching staff moved him inside from his preferred position cutting in from the left last season to keep him away from full backs who were bigger and stronger and could try and muscle him out of the way.

There was a belief Gabriel would grow this summer and judging by his social media feed, he has been working on that.

Having decided to target the youth market to offer the best chance of future success, it would be counterproductive to hold back someone already in their ranks, so Gabriel’s call-up for Norway makes perfect sense.

If Gabriel features in Norway he will be one of the youngest players ever to play a senior game. The youngest player to feature in a competitive match for United is David Gaskell, a goalkeeper who made his debut when he was 16 years and 19 days. Gabriel will not be 16 until 6 October.

Not everyone in Carrick’s squad is guaranteed to play.

United took 25 men to Helsinki for the defeat by Wrexham. Even though Carrick picked completely different teams for each half, goalkeeper Dermot Mee, midfielder Jim Thwaites and striker Chido Obi were not used.

But if he gets a chance, it will be instructive for United’s coaches to see how he copes with senior opponents. That will determine Gabriel’s future games programme as United’s World Cup players begin to return.