England fans watch a screening of the Women's World Cup 2023 final soccer match between England and Spain in London in August, 2023. As many as 15,000 English and 10,000 Scottish fans are expected to attend the 2026 World Cup.Kin Cheung/The Associated Press
British police have a message for their Canadian counterparts policing World Cup games this summer: England soccer fans are not hooligans.
England supporters have long had a reputation as drunken louts looking for trouble. But that’s an outdated notion, says Chief Constable Mark Roberts, who heads the U.K. Football Policing Unit.
“We do have this perception that comes forward with our supporters,” Roberts said during a news conference Thursday in London. “Our fans at World Cups are really well behaved.”
England and Scotland have qualified for the World Cup, and as many as 15,000 English and 10,000 Scottish fans are expected to attend their teams’ games. Both play their group-stage matches in the United States, but England could end up in Toronto in the elimination round.
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Roberts said the UKFPU, which helps British police departments deal with soccer-related violence, has been working with law enforcement agencies in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico in preparation for the World Cup. One of his biggest challenges has been convincing officials in all three countries that their preconceptions of British soccer fans have been largely drawn from television shows that don’t reflect reality.
To drive home the point, he cited arrest figures from the previous four World Cups. While as many as 14,000 England fans travelled to games in each of those tournaments − in South Africa, Brazil, Russia and Qatar − only a handful were arrested and most of the offences were minor.
No English fans were arrested in Qatar, he said, and fewer than 10 were held by police in Russia and South Africa. Twenty-four supporters faced charges in Brazil, but Roberts said most of those were caught scalping tickets.
“Judge us on our behaviour, not on out-of-date perceptions,” he said.
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The bigger challenge tends to be at home, where police have to control rowdy fans who watch games in pubs and then spill out into the streets. There have been several hundred arrests across the U.K. during recent World Cups, and the 2026 tournament presents a particular challenge because many kickoff times will be late at night in Britain.
Prior to each World Cup the football unit monitors the list of people in the U.K. who are subject to “football banning orders”: court-imposed penalties that prevent an offender from attending soccer matches for as many as 10 years depending on the offence. The orders also require perpetrators to hand over their passports when England’s national team plays abroad.
Currently there are 2,471 people subject to banning orders, and around 2,000 of them have passports. Roberts said nearly all of them have complied.
The UKFPU normally sends a dozen or more officers to major international tournaments to assist local police. Typically, the host country requests a set number of UKFPU officers and covers the cost of their accommodations, food and domestic travel. During the 2024 European Championship in Germany, the British unit sent 40 officers.
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However, Roberts said the U.S. has refused funding for UKFPU officers. As a result, the force is sending just three officers to the World Cup, and their expenses will be covered by British police. A couple of officers from Police Scotland will also be in the U.S. for Scotland’s matches.
Roberts said he had hoped to send about 10 officers, but the costs were too high and the Home Office has cut the unit’s budget by 10 per cent. Some local forces have stepped in to help, including the Boston Police Department, which has offered to house the British officers in the police academy.
The unit has been in touch with Toronto police, although it’s not clear how many UKFPU officers will be travelling to Canada. “If we end up playing in Toronto, then we’ll have the detailed conversation,” Roberts said.
Much of the liaison work with U.S. police involves familiarizing officers with the behaviour of English fans. “This isn’t the Super Bowl or baseball,” he said. “When England fans are singing, drinking and boisterous, we explained that this is normal − it’s not in any way a precursor to disorder.”
He added that it is also important for British fans to understand what is and is not acceptable in the U.S. and Canada. “It’s important to get the message to supporters that while certain things might be acceptable in the U.K. they might not be elsewhere.”
The Football Supporters’ Association will be working alongside the UKFPU to help British fans stay safe and navigate various issues, including transportation. The FSA has set up the England Fans’ Embassy to provide up-to-date information on the stadiums where England will play, said Thomas Concannnon, who leads the association’s England group.
Some civil liberty groups in Britain have warned fans about the heavy-handed tactics of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, which is expected to have officers present at World Cup venues in the U.S.
“It’s not something that’s been raised with us by travelling fans,” Concannon said. Most fans have been far more concerned about high ticket prices and travel costs.