Wigan Athletic's DW Stadium rates in top three grounds in country for safety

The DW experiences a mere 0.002 crimes per 100 spectators each season - within a 1km radius - despite a notable 225,230 attendees year round.

"This is a great achievement and reflects on the hard work we do in conjunction with the emergency services to ensure the DW Stadium is a safe place to visit,” said Latics head of operations Andy Birch.

"Our Wigan Athletic fans also help us ensure the DW Stadium is a safe place to visit, and we would like to thank our supporters for their continued support."

In the survey, conducted by Live Football Tickets, the two safest grounds are both in Manchester, with United's Old Trafford pipping neighbours' City's Etihad for top spot.

Indeed, the north west dominate the leaderboard, with Boundary Park (Oldham) fourth, the Tough Sheet Stadium (Bolton) and Spotland (Rochdale) making up the top six.

'Violence and sexual offences' are the most common crime at 14 of the top 15 grounds listed, with 'shoplifting' being the scourge of 15th-placed Nottingham Forest.

At the top of the crime table is Victoria Park, home of Hartlepool United, with around 18 crime events per 100 spectators in a season.

Despite drawing a substantial 88 per cent fewer spectators on average (76,774 yearly) than the Stadium of Light (683,340 attendees) in its neighbouring county, Victoria Park experiences nearly double the amount of crime incidents (13,907) than in the vicinity of the Sunderland venue, which registered around only 7,000 crimes over the last three years.

Aldershot Town’s Recreation Ground comes second, with violence and sexual offences (2,656 incidents) being the most common reason for arrests within 1 km of the venue, followed by anti-social behaviour (802 incidents).

Hosting an average of 44,150 fans per annum, a relatively high crime rate of 14.91 incidents per 100 attendees signals a red flag for visitors.

In third place is Field Mill, the world’s oldest professional football ground, attracting approximately 14.47 crimes per 100 spectators.

Despite hosting a significant 87% fewer spectators annually (71,394 attendees on average) compared to another East Midlands venue - King Power Stadium (which draws 560,351 attendees) - it’s concerning to see crime figures at Field Mill (10,330) surprisingly close to those at Leicester City’s home ground (11,327) - only 8 per cent lower.

Rounding off the top five ‘roughest’ venues are Crawley Town's Broadfield Stadium and Gillingham's Priestfield Stadium, witnessing 11.94 and 11.84 crimes per 100 spectators, respectively.

This time, there is more of a mix of the most common crime, with 'violence and sexual offences' making up 12 of the top 15, two for 'anti-social behaviour' (Leyton Orient and Barnet), and one (Mansfield) for 'shoplifting'.

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Top 15 'safest' grounds:

1 Manchester United

2 Manchester City

3 Wigan Athletic

4 Oldham Athletic

5 Bolton Wanderers

6 Rochdale

7 Brighton and Hove Albion

8 Wycombe Wanderers

9 Stoke City

10 Plymouth Argyle

11 Reading

12 Derby County

13 West Bromwich Albion

14 Sheffield Wednesday

15 Nottingham Forest

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Top 15 'most dangerous' grounds:

1 Hartlepool United

2 Aldershot Town

3 Mansfield Town

4 Crawley Town

5 Gillingham

6 Leyton Orient

7 Barnet

8 Fleetwood Town

9 Southend United

10 Swindon Town

11 Blackpool

12 Crewe Alexandra

13 York City

14 Tranmere Rovers

15 Accrington Stanley

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Scottish football teams were excluded due to insufficient crime records.