The 10 most 'toxic' EFL League One fanbases named and ranked by AI | OneFootball

League One is perhaps the most diverse division in the EFL, and FLW have asked AI to rank which of the clubs' fanbases are the most toxic.

League One is perhaps the most diverse division in the entire English pyramid, so Football League World have asked AI to decide which of its 24 member clubs have the most toxic fan bases.

There's a strong case for saying that League One is the meeting point of the English football pyramid. From former non-league clubs now living their best lives, such as Stevenage or Burton Albion, or former Premier League mainstays such as Bolton Wanderers or Wigan Athletic, all life is here.

And this is reflected in the fanbases of its 24 member clubs. Expectations can vary wildly, in no small part because the fortunes of the clubs within the division can end up varying so much. The 2022-23 season, for example, was just three years ago. Ipswich Town played Forest Green Rovers home and away that season. Two years later, Ipswich were a Premier League club while Forest Green were a non-league club.

But what effect does this have on the supporters of the clubs involved? With all of this in mind, Football League World have called upon ChatGPT to answer the question of which ten clubs in League One have the most toxic fanbases.

The supercomputer was keen to point out what it described as "notes and caveats". Firstly, it was very keen to remind us that "toxicity is subjective", saying that: "There’s no official toxicity metric; this list blends arrest/crime at grounds with online reputation and fan sentiment metrics. Arrest data in particular is an imperfect but objective indicator of disorder at matches".

It also reminds us all to "treat them as perception trends, not incontrovertible fact" and, especially usefully, that, "some clubs have small supporter bases where a few incidents can disproportionately skew per-capita figures". AI has leaned extremely heavy on arrest figures for the 2024-25 season for its calculations, as reported by Tribuna.

In 10th place on the list, AI calls a tie between Port Vale and Bolton Wanderers. This is somewhat surprising, given that Bolton's home crowds are getting on for three times those of Port Vale. "Not significantly high on arrest data, but visible online fan friction in forums and derby contexts" is the explanation given, although "derby contexts" is a little shaky in the case of Port Vale, given that they haven't played their bitter rivals Stoke City for almost 24 years. Notably, there was only one arrest at Vale Park throughout the whole of the 2024-25 season.

The question of who Bolton Wanderers' actual local rivals are is so convoluted that it's even inspired articles in the local press. Bolton currently enjoy the highest average attendances in the division, but this hasn't pushed them higher up this list. There were only nine arrests at the Toughsheet Community Stadium throughout the 2024-25 season, a commendably low 4.22 per 10,000 spectators over the course of the season.

"Moderate arrest count and some social media toxicity flagged relative to local rivals" is the explanation given for Doncaster Rovers' place on this list. There was trouble in the centre of Doncaster after Rovers played Barnsley in November 2025, when a number of incidents took place, including an assault on two police officers, though it should be added from press reporting whether the "marauding youths" - as they were described in the police statement on the matter - were Doncaster or Barnsley fans. There were five arrests at The Eco-Power Stadium throughout 2024-25, averaging 6.21 per 10,000 spectators.

8 ? ? Barnsley

Coincidentally, Barnsley are right next to Doncaster on this list. There were eight arrests at Oakwell throughout the 2024-25 season - 6.55 per 10,000 spectators, only two spots above Doncaster in Tribuna's league table - with AI adding that the Reds are, "lower on the crime ranking but still noted online as a passionate, occasionally confrontational fanbase".

7 ? ? Blackpool

Blackpool fans have had a bit of a reputation in the past, and matches against Wigan Athletic have been particularly problematic. In 2023, they were found guilty of misconduct and subsequently placed under an FA Action Plan and fined £35,000 due to "the use of discriminatory language and poor behaviour" during a match at Bloomfield Road; or, to put it another way, sectarian chanting aimed at Wigan's James McClean.

The following March, there was further disorder outside The DW Stadium following their meeting in League One, resulting in four arrests, although it's worth adding the police response to this incident was later criticised as being "unnecessarily heavy-handed". Their meeting five days before Christmas last year, however, does appear to have passed off without incident. Tribuna's league table states that there were eight arrests at Bloomfield Road throughout the 2024-25 season, or 8.32 per 10,000 spectators.

AI states itself that "some clubs have small supporter bases where a few incidents can disproportionately skew per-capita figures", and this may offer some insight into how Exeter City ended up on this list. The Grecians had seven arrests at St James' Park in 2024-25, but their "per-capita" score is high because their attendances aren't especially high. Add that to a bitter rivalry with Plymouth Argyle, who were relegated back to League One at the end of last season, and their place on this list makes a little more sense.

Again, AI is placing a great deal of weight on this Tribuna league table. Northampton Town seem to find themselves in a similar position to Exeter - not having the biggest fan base really can skew up those arrest figures. There were only eight arrests at Sixfields last season, but that pushes Northampton right up to fifth place in the League One arrests league table, although, intriguingly, AI does also say that they have "sometimes fractious supporter groups seen on forums", although it doesn't offer any substantiation for this claim.

4 ? ? AFC Wimbledon

It's at this point that you start to wonder whether AI has completely taken leave of its senses, if Wimbledon are showing so high on it. There were a surprisingly "high" - a word which should be used lightly, since they're pretty low across the board, considering just how many people we're talking about, here - number of arrests at Plough Lane last season at 13, but again, this is a blunt force of a statistic to throw around.

Furthermore, this arrest data is literally the only argument it's prepared to make. The only thing it says to justify their position on this list is, "ranked high in arrest data as well, indicating more frequent police incidents among supporters".

For all this talk of how much importance AI is putting on this list, it then goes ahead and puts the team at the top of it in third place. With 14 arrests at Field Mill last season and an average crowd of 7,702, Mansfield Town's per-capita arrest rate for 2024-25 was 18 per 10,000 spectators. Again, AI seems to understand this, saying: "Their stadium had the highest arrest rate per 10,000 fans in League One last year (used here as a proxy for rougher fan behaviour)," but no other explanation is offered.

Finally, AI offers something else beyond arrest statistics. It's just that it seems to misunderstand the other information that it finds. Reading do not feature highly on the Tribuna arrests list. With eight arrests throughout 2024-25 and an average home attendance of 12,635, their per-capita score of 6.38 per 10,000 is right down in ninth place.

But AI picks up on the fan protests against former owner Dai Yongge, saying that: "Frequent social-media disputes and strong protests against club ownership and performance attract negative attention," which is a complete misinterpretation of what those protests were about.

They might have been an inconvenience for fans of opposing clubs, but as was seen with the Sheffield Wednesday fan protests against Dejphon Chansiri earlier in the 2025-26 season, they were broadly supported by the fans of other clubs. The issue over those protests was that they were necessary in the first place, rather than the fact that they happened.

1 ? ? Peterborough United

"Often tops AI/social rankings for negative or “entitled” support, criticised for online behaviour and complaints from rivals", opines AI, and Peterborough United do top the League One arrest league for 2024-25 in terms of numbers, with 15 arrests at London Road throughout the season. And they fought amongst themselves at the 2024 EFL Trophy final against Wycombe Wanderers, even though their team scored during the fight. And 22 people were arrested following a derby match with Cambridge United in October 2022.

But the overwhelming feeling to come from compiling a list of this nature is how thin the evidence is. AI depended on Tribuna's list of arrests because it had so little to go on. And that, in truth, is because the vast, vast majority of supporters of all football clubs aren't "toxic" in the slightest.