Worries about hooliganism being on the rise again in football have been sparked after fighting between rival fans saw four people arrested at a Norfolk match.
Trouble erupted when away supporters clashed with home fans during King's Lynn Town's New Year’s Day victory over Boston United.
Well well well. Doesn’t look great from us at all. pic.twitter.com/7WjdNev241
— Boston United Supporters Page (@BUSupporterpage) January 1, 2023
The ill-tempered match, in front of a crowd of 2,124 including 412 from their Lincolnshire rivals, had to be halted for several minutes in the second half after fighting spilled onto the pitch.
Four men, aged 18, 30, 31 and 32, were arrested on suspicion of public order offences after the ugly scenes saw police having to be deployed onto the terraces at The Walks stadium.
CCTV footage circulating on social media appears to show supporters jumping over barriers into the home stand as fighting breaks out with fans exchanging punches, kicks and being dragged to the ground.
The violent clashes occurred while Boston, who are managed by former King’s Lynn boss and Norwich City player Ian Culverhouse, were losing 2-0 with Lynn’s fans taunting ‘you’re getting sacked in the morning’.
Superintendent Wes Hornigold, of Norfolk police, said: “Fighting between fans has no place in football and we will deal with incidents robustly.
“We worked closely with King’s Lynn Town Football Club to disrupt the violence and the vast majority of fans had a safe and enjoyable day.
“We will always seek to apply for football banning orders, where appropriate, which could see fans banned from matches.”
The clubs could face disciplinary action from the Football Association if the governing body looks into the unsavoury scenes.
Lynn manager Tommy Widdrington told reporters after the match: "It's not something you want to see, I thought it died in the 1980s to be honest with you.
"It's too many young people having too much to drink and not knowing what they are doing."
Linnets chairman Stephen Cleeve said damage had also been caused in the away section of the ground.
Posting on Twitter, he wrote: “Very upset that some Boston United 'fans' have smashed up the away toilets, kicking off toilet seats, smashing mirrors, pulling heaters off the walls.
"We understand most of the culprits were kids – who on earth are their parents?"
At the start of this season the FA toughened measures around fan behaviour amid concerns about increasing levels of violence.
There were 103 football-related arrests in the National League last season - the highest for a decade and more than three times higher than the 2018/19 season, the last unaffected before the pandemic.
Eight arrests were of King’s Lynn Town supporters, one for violent disorder, five for throwing missiles and two for drink or drug offences
Ninety-one supporters of National League sides were also subject to banning orders at the start of this season, including 25 new orders.
Data released by the UK Football Policing Unit shows there had been a 36% increase in reported disorder in the first half of the current campaign, compared to the same period of the 2019-20 season.
Norwich City supporters have previously slammed the "poisonous atmosphere” at away matches after fans were punched, kicked and stamped on during the Canaries' FA Cup win at Wolverhampton Wanderers last season.
Six people were also arrested after Millwall's win at Carrow Road in August, when social media footage showed visiting fans breaking and throwing plastic seats, and trying to break through a police line to get to City supporters.
Alcohol remains a factor, but police believe cocaine is increasingly fuelling football violence, with excessive consumption of the Class A drug cited as a contributing factor in the disorder at the Euro 2020 final at Wembley in an independent report by Baroness Casey published last year.
Banning orders have subsequently been extended to cover those convicted of taking or selling Class A drugs at matches.
Chief constable Mark Roberts, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for football policing, said: “Disorder is a problem that has not gone away, and throughout the whole of last season we saw an increase in crime at football matches across the country – from the Premier League right down to the National League.”
The Linnets won the game 2-1 to move up to second in the National League North.
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