saintrich
19-08-2008, 04:02 PM
MEMBERS of a Derby football youth gang are being hunted by police after violence erupted in Bristol.
Police say 16 teenagers from the Derby Youth Connection travelled on trains for the Rams' game with Bristol City on Saturday.
The group were described as being "very vocal", chanting "DYC" as they walked towards the city centre. They then got involved in a fight with a group of older men at about 3.30pm.
Football intelligence officer PC Paul Russell said: "We believe this was a chance meeting and not something that had been arranged. We are investigating and will hopefully be reviewing CCTV to try and identify those involved."
Saturday's incident comes as police revealed plans to ban schoolboy troublemakers from football matches due to what they say is an increase in the number of young hooligans following Derby County.
The Derby Youth Connection has been involved in fights, drink-related disorder and intimidating opposing supporters at Rams games.
Officers have also been attacked and police are concerned that more youths, some as young as 15, are becoming involved with the group.
Police are planning to introduce several measures, including banning them from all professional matches in England and Wales and from following the England national team.
PC Allan Guy, another football intelligence officer, said: "They need to know that if they like Derby County and watching the Rams they need to stay away from these groups.
"We have already looked at anti-social behaviour orders for some of the older lads and we will look at banning orders, too, if we have to. With some of the younger ones, we've visited parents in the past and it's been very effective and we'll look to do that again first.
"If these youths bump into the wrong group, they could suffer serious injuries."
He said there were 34 football banning orders active in the county. These have been used to ban yobs from football matches for up to three years.
Another tool used by officers to reduce youth hooliganism are acceptable behaviour contracts. These are signed by youngsters and their parents and include terms to get them to change their behaviour.
PC Russell said 10 contracts were now being reviewed and officers were looking at introducing a further 10.
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Not our "youth" then ;)
Police say 16 teenagers from the Derby Youth Connection travelled on trains for the Rams' game with Bristol City on Saturday.
The group were described as being "very vocal", chanting "DYC" as they walked towards the city centre. They then got involved in a fight with a group of older men at about 3.30pm.
Football intelligence officer PC Paul Russell said: "We believe this was a chance meeting and not something that had been arranged. We are investigating and will hopefully be reviewing CCTV to try and identify those involved."
Saturday's incident comes as police revealed plans to ban schoolboy troublemakers from football matches due to what they say is an increase in the number of young hooligans following Derby County.
The Derby Youth Connection has been involved in fights, drink-related disorder and intimidating opposing supporters at Rams games.
Officers have also been attacked and police are concerned that more youths, some as young as 15, are becoming involved with the group.
Police are planning to introduce several measures, including banning them from all professional matches in England and Wales and from following the England national team.
PC Allan Guy, another football intelligence officer, said: "They need to know that if they like Derby County and watching the Rams they need to stay away from these groups.
"We have already looked at anti-social behaviour orders for some of the older lads and we will look at banning orders, too, if we have to. With some of the younger ones, we've visited parents in the past and it's been very effective and we'll look to do that again first.
"If these youths bump into the wrong group, they could suffer serious injuries."
He said there were 34 football banning orders active in the county. These have been used to ban yobs from football matches for up to three years.
Another tool used by officers to reduce youth hooliganism are acceptable behaviour contracts. These are signed by youngsters and their parents and include terms to get them to change their behaviour.
PC Russell said 10 contracts were now being reviewed and officers were looking at introducing a further 10.
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Not our "youth" then ;)