A HEREFORD football fan has been up before the magistrates after breaking the terms of his football banning order.

Clive Symonds, 35, was handed a football banning order by Worcester Crown Court in September 2020 after he was captured on CCTV throwing items from the beer garden at Yates’s into the one at Hogarths and was involved in angry scenes in the Merton Meadow car park as Stockport fans tried to leave after a game in Hereford in 2019.

He was back in court this March after failing to comply with the requirements of the order by failing to surrender his passport and give notification of a change of address.

But just how many orders are handed out after Hereford games? We took a look to find out.

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Football incidents

A number of incidents have been reported at Hereford games, Government data reveals. The data, which covers seasons from 2017/18 to 2022/23, includes the type of incident and the game at which it occurred.

First on the list is a Hereford v Fleetwood Town game in December 2017, where missiles and pyrotechnics were reported, while a further pyrotechnics incident was also reported in the same month.

Next up is a game against Shrewsbury Town in July 2021, where a race-hate crime incident involving a youth supporter was reported,

In October 2022, a pitch incursion was reported in a game against Bromley, although three fans escaped being handed banning orders in court as magistrates said "it was a very short incident, no aggression was witnessed, and they returned over the barrier promptly."

Banning orders

In total, 33 football banning orders have been handed out to Hereford supporters between 2015 and 2023.

The greatest number of bans was recorded in 2022, when there were 10 new bans, while eight new bans were recorded in 2023.

What is a football banning order?

Football banning orders are made by the courts to help prevent violence or disorder at, or in connection with, regulated football matches. An individual with a banning order is prevented from attending all regulated matches in the UK and may be required to hand over their passport to the police before overseas matches and tournaments, information from Gov.uk says.

Banning orders are issued either following a conviction for a football-related offence or following a complaint by a local police force, British Transport Police, or the Crown Prosecution Service. 

A football banning order lasts for a minimum of three years and no more than five years, however in cases where a person was sentenced to a term of imprisonment for the original offence, an order lasts for a minimum of six years, and no more than 10 years.