Greater Manchester football stadiums have been named the ‘safest in the UK’, according to new data

We all know Manchester is the world’s footballing capital — we won’t hear any argument otherwise — and now we’re also glad to hear that the region as a whole was found to be the safest when it comes to UK football stadiums.

Unfortunately, there are always going to be flares up in and around football but given how obsessed our city is with the beautiful game, we’re glad to hear that the majority of match-going Mancs are doing their best to live up to that name.

As per the latest data collected by Live Football Tickets, of the 10 stadiums said to be the safest around the country, the top six grounds are right here in Greater Manchester, with Man United and Man City leading the way.

Basing their stats on the mean average of crime events per every 100 spectators each season, Old Trafford was declared the safest with just four reported instances between 2021 and 2023, followed by the Etihad Stadium in second with only seven — also positive given their larger attendances.

Now, it goes without saying that we of course dream of the days when we don’t have to worry about any kind of crime or inappropriate behaviour at footy games (however naive that ideal might be), but it’s still reassuring to see all Manc teams occupying the European places on the matchday safety league table.

From third to sixth are Wigan’s DW Stadium, Oldham’s Boundary Park, Bolton’s recently renamed Toughsheet Stadium and Spotland Stadium, the home of Rochdale AFC.

You can see the rest of the top 10 below and the full list of 86 stadiums ranked from the safest to those with the most crimes reported on average each year HERE.

Rank	Stadium	Club	Average annual spectators	Total number of crime events (2021 – 2023)	Most common crime	Mean estimated crime events per 100 spectators per season
1	Old Trafford	Manchester United	1,249,353	4	Violence and sexual offences	0.0003
2	Etihad Stadium	Manchester City	831,099	7	Violence and sexual offences	0.0008
3	DW Stadium	Wigan Athletic	225,230	5	Violence and sexual offences	0.002
4	Boundary Park	Oldham Athletic	121,537	10	Violence and sexual offences	0.008
5	Toughsheet Stadium	Bolton Wanderers	386,302	34	Violence and sexual offences	0.009
6	Spotland Stadium	Rochdale	37,418	8	Violence and sexual offences	0.02
7	Amex Stadium	Brighton and Hove Albion	521,354	564	Violence and sexual offences	0.11
8	Adams Park	Wycombe Wanderers	116,644	412	Violence and sexual offences	0.35
9	Britannia Stadium	Stoke City	381,422	1,455	Violence and sexual offences	0.38
10	Home Park	Plymouth Argyle	307,813	1,289	Violence and sexual offences	0.42
11	Madjeski Stadium	Reading	282,625	1,197	Violence and sexual offences	0.42
12	Pride Park	Derby County	522,825	2,522	Violence and sexual offences	0.48
13	The Hawthorns	West Bromwich Albion	448,271	3,473	Violence and sexual offences	0.77
14	Hillsborough	Sheffield Wednesday	470,245	4,432	Violence and sexual offence	0.94
15	The City Ground	Nottingham Forest	510,601	4,971	Shoplifting	0.97

Read more:

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Football is for people from all walks of life and absolutely no one should feel unsafe inside a stadium, be it as a home fan or an away supporter, so if you ever see anything out of order or concerning when attending a fixture, be sure to report it to your nearest steward.

We all need to do our bit to help better police the game when called upon and make as many people feel comfortable going to the match as possible.

For example, a fresh push has once again been made to help crack down on tragedy chanting as sadly there are still instances occurring across the North West and beyond.

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — The Manc Group/Reading Tom (via Flickr)