Liverpool handed out a record 1,114 lifetime bans in the 2024-25 season.
Liverpool FC confirmed that 1,114 lifetime bans were issued last season against fans involved in ticket touting and fraud. This marks a sharp rise compared to 75 bans in the 2023-24 campaign.
The crackdown came after a BBC Sport investigation exposed industrial-scale black market ticketing driven by bots, burner phones, and fake identities.
The club also denied entry to 500 fans using burner phones. Conducted 400 targeted matchday stops. Shut down 162 social media groups with over one million members involved in ticket resale.
Liverpool reported that it closed 100,000 fake accounts across the 2023-24 season. New security measures include: Multi-factor authentication. Single sign-on. Advanced fraud analysis tools.
Most bans were linked to the unauthorised selling of season tickets, memberships, or hospitality tickets.
Liverpool is not alone in battling touts. Arsenal cancelled almost 74,000 fake accounts and banned 7,000 memberships this season. Chelsea blocked 350,000 bot purchase attempts.
The Premier League is introducing encrypted barcodes for digital tickets to make resale more difficult.
The Football Supporters Association (FSA) has warned that clubs are not doing enough.
“Long-term supporters are finding it impossible to get tickets because of the way they are made available through secondary agencies. This is becoming endemic across the game,” said FSA head Tom Greatrex.
The Department of Culture, Media and Sport reiterated that ticket touting is illegal under UK law, stressing that clubs hold responsibility to stop unauthorised resales.
Despite the crackdown, only 12 arrests were made for ticket touting across the top six tiers of English football last season.
