The Met is working alongside football clubs to deal with fans attending matches in possession of illegal drugs which leads to violence and anti-social behaviour. 

A football banning order can be imposed for a minimum of three years for any football fan found with drugs on a match day. 

This comes as Brentford FC announced its fan sanctions for the current season so far. 

Superintendent Gerry Parker from the football policing unit said: "The Met is committed to reducing crime and anti-social behaviour at football fixtures.

"To ensure football fans have the best experience at matches, we are working hard to deter and detect drug related crime.

"This means we will apply for fans found with drugs to receive a banning order and will appeal court results if the ban is not imposed. 

"People should be able to go to games, enjoy the match and come home safely.

"We want to support all fans and members of our community affected by negative behaviours that are exacerbated by drugs.

"We will work hard to ensure we keep people safe throughout the season and summer tournaments." 

The club says this season it has made efforts to enhance its recording systems for fan behaviour incidents. 

While in previous seasons Brentford only recorded reports sent to the club via email, its text line, its reporting QR codes and serious incidents reported by stewards, this season it has also included all reports from matchday stewards, including those that are dealt with there and then on a matchday and those relating to visiting supporters. 

For the 2023/24 season, Brentford has issued 131 individuals with sanctions due to various incidents concerning fan behaviour 

• 104 people were ejected from or refused entry to Gtech Community Stadium 
• 23 people received a match ban of between one to six matches 
• One person received a 12-month sanction 
• Two people received a written warning from the club 

The club says that of the 131 fans that received sanctions, four were for drug offences. 

Sally Stephens, fan and community relations director, said: "Overall, the number of serious fan behaviour incidents at the stadium this season has been steady when compared to last season, but we are continuing to work hard to deal those incidents that do occur to ensure that the Gtech is a welcoming and safe environment for all fans.

"We are seeing an increase in the overall number of reports, but we hope that this reflects growing confidence in our willingness and ability to deal with incidents in the right way as well an increased awareness of how to report incidents.

"A particularly positive step this season is the increased training for all our matchday staff particularly around inclusion, working with fans with disabilities, race, religion and women's safety."

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