Tranmere Rovers’ ground Prenton Park has been named as the UK’s 14th most dangerous football stadium.
A study by Live Football Tickets, using data from data.police.uk shows 5,038 crimes were reported at Prenton Park from 2021 to 2023.
During this time period, Tranmere attracted an average of 75,166 annual spectators, meaning there was an average of 6.70 reported crimes per 100 spectators between 2021 and 2023.
Violence was the most commonly reported crime, as per the data findings.
Rovers season ticket holder Matt McArdle admitted he was surprised by the findings.
He said: “Football, in a working class area, is still that outlet for people isn’t it, and Birkenhead (home to many Tranmere fans) is a working class area, but personally it (the data) surprises me.
“In the last few years that I’ve been going to the games, you would think that there would be more of a drop in hooliganism than a rise in it.”
Mr McArdle believes such incidents demonstrate a lack of respect.
“As someone that enjoys home and away games, you always want to treat where you’re from, it’s not just the football club, you know, this is the Wirral’s football club, this is Birkenhead’s football club, it’s where I’ve grown up so you always want where you’re from to come across respectfully.”
In January, an arrest was made following a brawl between Tranmere and MK Dons fans which took place shortly after the final whistle.
Despite such incidents, club chairman Mark Palios reiterated in his update on March 19 that Tranmere Rovers is a family oriented club.
“We reintroduced some pre-match activities for young fans that had ceased during Covid, such as the popular target practice inflatable, and focused hard on making sure that families feel welcome at Prenton Park.
“So I was delighted we received excellent feedback from the EFL on the quality of how we look after families coming to our home games, being ranked first amongst all League Two clubs for family excellence at the mid point in the year.
“We are working hard to try to make sure we retain that position for the whole season.”
