Is this the way to curb football violence?

More than 900 fans went on the rampage outside the New Den ground after Millwall's play-off loss to Birmingham.

Chairman Theo Paphitis has apologised for the mayhem and the club said it would consider "placing restrictions on travelling supporters, both home and away, and rescheduling kick-off times and dates of matches".

Would supporter bans stamp out hooliganism?

One thing that people appear to have missed about all this is that 90% of those Millwall 'fans' weren't even at the game...they were locals waiting for it to finish. Many people were milling around outside the ground 30 minutes before the end of the game waiting for trouble. To punish honest Millwall fans is too unfair. The problem is not Millwall, but the area. Punishing Millwall fans simply moves the problem elsewhere.
Duncan, UK

Millwall have been allowed to get away with this behaviour for far too long and they must now pay for it via heavy fines, relegation and away clubs banning all their fans. Sorry that this will affect genuine fans but so be it.
Ed Hollyman, UK

It was very clear at the first leg in Birmingham, that allowing only Millwall Season Ticket holders to go, along with extremely good policing by the West Midlands police force that it can be safe. Banning away fans is hardly the answer when a substantial section of the trouble makers on Thursday weren't even at the game.
Jils, UK

Millwall fans have been a thorn in the side of those trying to clean up the image of football (especially lower divisions). I say they have had their chance and blown it, now it's time to get rid of them. Some may say it's just a minority of fans, and usually it is, but with Millwall half the stadium goes along for a scrap after the match.
KBH, UK

Millwall and Cardiff and a few others are terrifying grounds to go to. You can't wear colours etc, for fear of reprisal. Deduct points or relegate them to the league below is the only way the chairmen of these clubs will take it seriously as far as they are concerned it's a police matter, they don't care. The only way to get rid of it is to hit the clubs where it really hurts - points......
Scott Wilcox, England

As Brian Clough once said to Maggie Thatcher "find a way to keep your hooligans out of my stadium". Banning away fans will not solve the problem as most of the trouble makers have no interest in entering the ground anyway. The problems are usually drink related although the FA chooses to ignore this by allowing the "Carling" premiership and other brewers as shirt sponsors.

Unfortunately this is a social problem and one probably stands more chance of being attacked on the public transport coming home from a game than at the match. However Millwall fans should note that wearing tee shirts quoting "nobody like us ...we don't care!" is not the best way to endear other fans to your cause.
Derek Franks, UK

Hang on a minute! We are told 600-900 "fans" went on the rampage last week. We all know that every club has its hooligans but Millwall certainly do not have that many, that's nearly a full Den!!

Of the few "fans" charged at the weekend only one was from South London! One of them was from Dudley, W. Midlands for crying out loud. Millwall fans who were clearly wearing colours were pulled from cars that clearly had Millwall stickers on them and beaten. Now not even Millwall's thick louts would do that.

I expect every neutral is fed up of hearing this but here it goes anyway - other yobs jump on the Millwall bandwagon! All 900 idiots would not have been "fans" of the Lions; they just wanted a riot. What good will banning Millwall fans from away games do? Nothing, there is never trouble in the grounds, it's always outside, so if the yobs wanted to go to Barnsley for example then they would - and just wait until after the game.

It is a problem in society not football and I'm afraid it seems to be returning. Just as I go can I remind people of the also shocking scenes seen at the Stoke Cardiff matches? How much press coverage did that receive? Virtually nothing, both those clubs have more fans on the exclusion list than any other club (Millwall are not even in the top 10!!) so is it yet again a case of singling out Millwall because of their reputation - of course it is!!
Paul, England

Millwall fans should not be banned from any game anywhere. We the REAL fans are the one's that suffer from the backlash of these idiots. Banning Millwall fans is the wrong way to approach this!

I do however agree that the security at the Den and the away ends can be stepped up to a whole new level by just doing a few simple things, e.g. ID cards. As you can see from the post's bellow people are far too happy to tar all Millwall fans with the same brush (idiots). People need to be made aware of the lengths Millwall FC goes to, to try and rid our club of these people.

I'm not sure if it is true but we are hearing a lot of reports/rumours that these so called "fans" were A) not even at the Game and B) not even Millwall fans. We 'real Millwall' fans are sick too the teeth of these idiots and the sooner they are eradicated the better.
Lee Harper, England

I live quite near to the New Den and the only day that the neighbourhood is safe is when Millwall play away from home! I would support banning them from all home matches as well.
Mike Tucker, South London

Erm, didn't anyone notice but Millwall were at home, banning their fans from away matches won't solve that problem. Also of note was that some 127 Man Utd fans were in trouble with German police after their game last week, more than the Millwall mob and the Mayday protestors put together, what biased? Who me?
Paul, UK

Unless all the football clubs that have hooligans are hit in their pockets this scourge of the terraces will not stop. Like all other criminal offences the perpetrators should be arrested, fined, jailed, and made to attend classes in civility on a compulsory bases.
Muneer Deen, UK

Makes me laugh to read what everyone says about us. Unfortunately with the reputation that we have, we get away fans coming down trying to test the image. That's when problems arise. The irony of it is the majority of people that have written from different clubs have hooligan problems of there own.
Steve, London

Why is it that, when something like this happens, the reaction is one of hysteria? For years it has been known that ALL clubs have a hooligan element. But banning 'away' fans is NOT the answer (not to mention a breach of human rights)!

It got a little 'out of hand' the other night at the Den but, and l speak from experience, our good friends, the boys in blue, DO tend to be a bit heavy handed with ALL football fans, not just the trouble makers.

I have followed West Ham for years and can tell MANY stories of instances where the police have been OTT in the way they police games. I don't want to belittle the job that they do as, on the whole, they do a fine job but there are times when the 'softly softly' approach is far better than a bash on the head!
Steve Banks, England

In Millwall's case - YES. They are a menace, I would go further and recommend they get relegated a division as well for the total disregard to other fans' safety!!
Tyson, England

If you ban the away fans, all that will happen it that the hooligans will still travel and get into the home end and that the true fans will be the ones who lose, as usual.

Why not introduce a system where anyone who wants to buy tickets for away matches must have an 'away card' and have a police check, similar to the England Club rules, where cards must be shown at away matches. It may not totally get rid of hooligans, but then the police will know who they are and true fans will not suffer.
Luke Senior, England

These idiots ruin it for us all. I would love to travel abroad and follow our club and national sides. However, these little-Englander morons continue to taint us all, and prevent us from travelling in dignity. I believe the press should collectively rise up and start a campaign for us all to follow, as the grand majority of the population have had enough of these fools.
Pete, Leeds

Bearing in mind that 90% of the clubs in Div One are in financial trouble of some sort or other, yes. The police cost money, and I'm sure every club in the division could do without the added cost of Millwall coming to town.
Jon, England

As any Nottingham Forest fan will tell you, the recent trouble at Millwall is nothing new this season. When Forest travelled there this year, the scenes were very similar - bricks being thrown, cars overturned, police everywhere.

In fact there was so much trouble, that the return fixture was moved to a noon kick off. The only difference was that this time, it was a big game and the media were out in force to report it.
Ian Griff, UK

I feel sorry for the real Millwall fans, the ones who just go to support their team. However, Millwall's problem is never likely to go away and they must be banned from bringing fans to away games. Also, Millwall home games should be for home fans only. This is the only way to go forward and bring an end to the idiots who claim to follow Millwall.
Lee, London, UK

There is no such thing as a football hooligan, it just so happens that the hooligans like football and so can meet other hooligans. This problem has nothing to do with football, it is merely a reflection of what some people like to do to make their lives more interesting.

Every Saturday night there are fights in every town. The fights happen because people get bored and there is nothing more interesting than to tell your mates about what you did to some poor guy's face. The problem is not at all with football, it is a reflection on our society.
Andy, Yorkshire

With measures already taken to stop football hooliganism, it appears that the problem is still here and that it's not going to go away. Being a supporter of a hooligan-ridden club, some elements (which are substantially large) deem the status as 'cool'. Unfortunately, the status of 'cool' allows others to follow, in big numbers.

Clear intentions are the only way forward, and to ban fans for high profile games is a very good idea. Surely this will at least cut down on huge police costs. Although at a cost to the clubs. But, as hooliganisms is rife, it seems those who want to fight, will somehow always find a fight!
JD, England

I am a Wimbledon fan and we experienced absolutely no problems with visiting Millwall fans when we played them at "home" this season, or when we won 1-0 at the New Den.

Every club has a few idiots and some clubs have a certain reputation. Stupid young men in South London know where to go if they want to cause trouble and it is hard to see how Millwall FC can do any more than they are currently doing to deter these people.

It is extremely naive to think that this is just Millwall's or even football's problem. It is far more complicated than that. I obviously wasn't there, but in my experience the violence last week wasn't primarily caused by either defeat in a football match, Millwall FC or even the police (who have an impossible and thankless job).

It was caused by alcohol and its misuse by stupid young men. And no, I know we cannot ban binge drinking or curb the drink culture among football fans. Maybe removing our ridiculous licensing laws and encouraging people to be more mature in their habits would help.
Martin Drake, UK