Southport pre-season friendly marred by fighting fans
Southport's pre-season friendly against Blackpool was temporarily interrupted by fighting fans at the weekend.
The game was stopped by match officials and police were called at around 3.30pm on Saturday (2nd July).
Some visiting supporters broke through steward barriers to confront the home fans that were goading them, leading referee Ben Speedie to call the players off the pitch.
"It makes me very sad to have to make this announcement at a friendly but the referee has stopped the game for 10 minutes," the stadium announcer told supporters.
"We would like anyone that's on the terraces to move up to past the halfway line and if anything happens like that again the referee has made it clear he will be abandoning this match, so behave yourselves."
Play resumed after that break and fans were again warned about the potential for abandonment at half-time, when the Kaiser Chiefs' 'I Predict a Riot' was on the playlist.
In a statement, Merseyside police said upon their arrival, there was no further disorder and no injuries were reported.
Chief Inspector Matthew Moscrop said: “Our message to the small minority of fans intent on carrying out disorder at any match is that such behaviour is unacceptable and will simply not be tolerated.
“We can and do identify those responsible for such incidents and can issue a range of sanctions, including Banning Orders.
“We will be working closely with both clubs to investigate this disturbamce and I want to thank the vast majority of supporters who attended the game in good spirits.
“I would ask anyone who witnessed anything or anyone with information to come forward and we will take appropriate action.”
If you have any footage or information about this incident, please DM our social media desk on Twitter @MerPolCC or Facebook ‘Merseyside Police Contact Centre’ with reference 22000466789.