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PHOTOS: Fans in the Stands for Pre-season Friendlies – 26th July 2025

It’s time to check out photos of Fans in the Stands for Pre-season Friendlies and there are some decent followings about this week.

As long as trains and buses are on time, the pre-match pint and grub is a vital part of the whole match day experience.

It may be tough to find a pub without hostile home fans, but it’s always possible to duck into a nice little ‘boozer’ for a bevvy before kick-off.

While much of the ‘away day’ experience takes place out of the stadium, the ground itself always plays a big part.

The days of old in which away fans were in roof-less terraces being battered by the elements are becoming a distant memory – albeit they are still a problem at some settings – with modern stadia now spacious and comfortable.

Right then, time to take a look at all those away fans in the stands at pre-season friendlies…

COVENTRY fans at Bristol Rovers

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A post shared by The Away Fans (@theawayfans)

BIRMINGHAM fans at Port Vale

MIDDLESBROUGH fans at Rangers

CRYSTAL PALACE fans at Crawley

WOLVES fans at Stoke

WATFORD fans at Leyton Orient

BRISTOL CITY fans at Plymouth

SUNDERLAND fans at Hearts

TOTTENHAM fans at Luton

ROTHERHAM fans at Accrington

EXETER fans at Torquay

BRADFORD fans at Oldham

CARLISLE fans at Harrogate

@joncolman

BRISTOL ROVERS fans at Oxford

CARDIFF fans at Notts County

@NottsCountyTalk

WEST BROM fans at Lincoln

@HGElwell

DERBY fans at Burton

PRESTON fans at Bolton

IPSWICH fans at Aberdeen

HULL fans at Stockport

@bazdjcooper

STOCKPORT fans at Salford

BURNLEY fans Shrewsbury

BURNLEY fans at Huddersfield

@LeonWobYP

POLICE STATEMENT:

The latest football disorder statistics have shown an 18% increase in the number of football matches with reported incidents across England and Wales (1,583 in 2024/25 compared to 1,341 in 2023/24).

Hate crime (+6%) and drugs in football stadiums (+25%) make up the majority of the increase.

Meanwhile, there have been deceases in the number of pitch encroachments (-12%) and pyrotechnics offences (-19%), demonstrating the positive work police forces have done with the clubs to tackle the issues.

Despite the increase in the number of football-related incidents, the number of arrests has fallen by 11%. However, this does not mean that people are not facing consequences for their actions. Many incidents are now being dealt with in slow time, with suspects voluntarily attending interviews at a later date, rather than being immediately arrested, meaning that they are not always included within the statistics.

A contributing factor of the decrease is down to the fact that many police forces have difficulties policing matches as forces are having to make hard choices with tightened finances – this is compounded by the inability to fairly recover policing costs.

Despite the decrease in arrests, the number of Football Banning Orders (FBOs) has continued to increase (2,439 in June 2025, compared to 2,172 in August 2024) demonstrating that positive action is being taken to tackle football-related crime.

The majority of these FBOs are for violent offences such as missile throwing, assaults and public order offences. This illustrates that the right people are being punished by removing them from the game so that the rest of the football fans – the overwhelming majority of which go to have a good time without causing any problems whatsoever – can safely do so.

Chief Constable Mark Roberts, NPCC National Football Policing Lead, said: “These figures show that we are continuing to see a worrying level of offending at men’s football matches across the country at all levels, which is leading to an increasing strain on policing resources and demonstrates why it is essential that football clubs need to start paying their fair share towards policing matches.

“Policing men’s football creates significantly more demand than any other event in terms of public order deployments nationally, meaning every week officers are taken away from policing communities to facilitate matches. Given the frequency of the games in the UK, it is a huge drain on our resources and means that we are essentially losing around 800-1200 officers every year to policing football.

“The cost to the public purse for policing football matches is extortionate, with taxpayers now providing £70m of policing each season – which cannot continue.

“As things stand, football clubs are only required to cover the costs incurred inside their ground or on their property – they do not have to pay a penny towards the policing of surrounding streets, city centres or towards the increasing marches to stadiums by fans. On top of this, 48% of games across all leagues incur no charges for policing, with 95% of the National League being police-free so to suggest fair cost recovery would put small clubs out of business is wide of the mark.

“In a nutshell, this means that we as the police are subsidising clubs that quite happily spend up to a £1bn in a single transfer window. That is why I am continuing to call for the government to speed up the ongoing consultation process into the current legislation.”

Chief Constable Roberts, added: “Despite the increasing financial strain, police forces are continuing to work hard to tackle football related offences. 2,439 fans are now subject to football banning orders, an increase of 12% compared 2024, meaning that they cannot attend any matches, including those at international tournaments.

The reporting of online hate crime has reduced this year. This is down to us continuing excellent work with social media companies to ensure that action can be taken against those responsible for online hate crimes. They have speeded up their processes and many now utilise filters to greater effect, thereby preventing offensive posts being published.

“However, further work needs to be done in these areas. We know that online abuse is still widely underreported, and we would encourage anyone affected by these despicable crimes to come forward and report them.

“Collectively we need to make football a safer space for the overwhelming majority of fans who want to enjoy the game. Anyone who commits a criminal offence either outside or inside a football ground can expect to face the consequences of their actions.”

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