HUDDERSFIELD Town today moved to clamp down hard on soccer yobs.

The action follows trouble at last Saturday's away game against Lincoln which forced the match to be briefly halted.

Soccer louts face a life ban from Huddersfield Town matches under the new rules.

With immediate effect, anyone convicted of a football-related offence either home or away will be banned indefinitely from the McAlpine Stadium.

Fans even ejected from a match will be banned from the McAlpine for a season.

And the club are considering a membership card scheme to control the sale of tickets for away matches.

Intelligence operations at away games may also be stepped up in a bid to identify and exclude yobs.

These are the strongest measures ever taken by club and stadium officials concerned over the increased cost of providing police and stewards at Division III and Cup matches.

Town secretary Ann Hough said: "The life ban will be automatic for anyone arrested and convicted of a football-related offence - inside or outside any ground - and the move has the full backing of the club directors and management.

"Anyone ejected will be banned for a season and if they hold a season ticket, it will be confiscated. We don't want these people associated with Huddersfield Town or with football and we apologise to the genuine fans who were unintentionally caught up in the problem at Lincoln."

McAlpine safety officer Sue Watson said the club would like to hear from anyone willing to identify troublemakers.

"We will offer to go to every away match with a small team of stewards to help football intelligence officers identify those involved," she said.

"CCTV is not always available because of data protection, but if we are there ourselves then we can make sure the appropriate people are identified and banned.

"The vast majority of supporters are a credit to the club and we have one of the best trouble-free records in the country at the McAlpine, but we do want to clear out the minority who are upsetting the rest."

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