The government report said that of those incidents, 79 percent related to race. It stated that the increase could be due to improvements in recording the data. Overall football-related arrests dropped by 10 percent to 1,381. A spate of incidents marred matches last season. Manchester City forward Raheem Sterling was the victim of alleged racist abuse in a match at Chelsea while Arsenal's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had a banana skin thrown at him by a Tottenham fan.
Deputy Chief Constable Mark Roberts, the National Police Chiefs Council football policing lead, said in a statement to the Press Association: "Hate crime is on the rise, and this reflects some of the high-profile incidents reported over the past season.
"We are committed to working with the leagues and clubs to tackle these issues but that will take a sustained focus on security from all concerned." Anti-discrimination charity Kick It Out said the figures were a "serious concern".