SAINTS fans have been involved in four arrests which were related to racism from 2014/15 to 2017/18.

In comparison, Manchester United supporters, who top the list, were involved in 27. This data was released under a Freedom of Information request by the Press Association.

Championship clubs Leeds and Millwall each had 15 fans arrested, while Leicester had 14 and Chelsea 13.

Saints’ local rivals, Pompey, had two more arrests than the St Mary’s side with six.

The 2018-19 season in England was marred by a series of racism-related incidents and arrests. Data for the season just ended is set to be released later this summer.

Where racism has been recorded as a feature of an incident, it requires the arresting officer to tick a box, which is why the Home Office says the overall accuracy of the data cannot be guaranteed.

Manchester United pointed to the fact their large attendances meant the percentage of their supporters involved was miniscule.

A club spokesperson said: "There is no place for racism within our game, or in society as a whole, and we are committed to working to make football free from all forms of discrimination, whether through our own 'All Red All Equal' campaign or in support of Kick It Out and other organisations.

"This statistic applies to 0.0004 per cent of our matchgoing fanbase. It does not reflect the views or behaviour of our fans as a whole in any way. We continue with monitoring and liaison with authorities to try and identify and eradicate any forms of discriminatory behaviour, and we take appropriate action if it occurs."

The data shows an overall total of 107 arrests where racism was recorded as a feature during the 2014-15 season, rising to 114 in 2015-16.

The figure then dropped over the next two seasons, with 94 arrests recorded in 2016-17 and just 75 in 2017-18.

Other clubs with arrests in double figures are West Ham (11), with Barnsley, Manchester City, Middlesbrough and Sunderland all on 10.

Anti-discrimination body Kick It Out reported last November that there were 520 reports of discriminatory abuse during the 2017-18 season, an 11 per cent increase on the previous campaign and the sixth year in a row where the figure had risen.

Fifty-three per cent of those reports concerned alleged racist abuse.

In response to the Home Office data obtained by the Press Association concerning arrests, a statement from Kick It Out read: "These figures show racism is a nationwide problem shared by clubs of all different sizes in all parts of the country.

"We support them in challenging racism and other forms of discrimination, and will continue our programme of education in the game to help reduce this problem."