SEVEN men appeared in court yesterday accused over football-related violence in Huddersfield in May.

Families fled as groups of men, said to be fans of Huddersfield Town, Leeds United and Bradford City, clashed in the town centre.

Violence spilled out into Huddersfield Railway Station and fights broke out on the tracks, it is alleged.

Neil John Doyle, 31, of Wakefield Road, Huddersfield, Gavin Greig, 20, of Arthur Street, Golcar, and Andrew Marshall, 47, of Bath Street, Huddersfield, are all charged with violent disorder in Cloth Hall Street and Market Street, Huddersfield, on May 19 and affray in Westgate, Huddersfield.

Darren Ali Judge, 21, of Queen Elizabeth Gardens, Huddersfield, and Jeremy Thomas McDonald, 45, of Gramfield Road, Crosland Moor, are both accused of violent disorder in the same place as the others.

Richard Anthony Gough, 47, of Leeds Road, Deighton, and Samuel Allan McQuitty, 26, of Ruskin Grove, Deighton, both face affray charges, again in Westgate.

None of the men have indicated a plea.

Kirklees magistrates were told yesterday that CCTV evidence was still needed by defence solicitors.

Mr Mike Sisson-Pell, for Gough and Marshall, told the court: “Without the CCTV footage, officers don’t have a case. To properly advise our clients we need that.”

Mr Ben Thomas, prosecuting, agreed the footage was still outstanding and admitted: “I don’t know where it is and I don’t know what state it is in.”

Chairman of the bench Mr Richard Barker ordered the prosecution to send the footage to the defence within two weeks and adjourned the case for committal to Crown Court on December 6.

All seven men were further granted conditional bail.

The condition is that they do not go within one mile of any sports ground where Town, Leeds United or Bradford City are playing a “regulated” game.

SOME 41 Town fans are currently subject to banning orders, Home Office figures have revealed.

That compares with 91 at Leeds United, 63 at Sheffield Wednesday and 56 at Millwall.

Cardiff top the Championship league of shame with 135.

The figures were released in the report Statistics on Football-Related Arrests and Banning Orders for season 2011-12.

The report also revealed that six new banning orders were issued at Town last season.

And during Town’s promotion-winning campaign there were 27 arrests at Town matches, 20 of them away from home.

The arrests were mainly for alcohol or public order offences.

By comparison last season the most number of arrests in League One came at Town’s Yorkshire rivals Sheffield Wednesday (62) and Sheffield United (48).

Overall the report shows the number of arrests at football matches in England and Wales has dropped by nearly a quarter.

Arrests at international and domestic games in 2011-12 dropped by 24% to 2,363, 726 fewer than in the previous year.

It means that football-related arrests are “at an all-time low,” policing and criminal justice minister Damian Green said.

An average of less than one – or 0.72 – arrests were made per match.

Tough banning orders have been used since 2000 to tackle football violence and disorder which once scarred the sport and saw hooliganism termed “the English disease.”

Banning orders, which are time-limited, dropped to 2,750 from 3,173.

There were 500 new banning orders imposed during last season.

Mr Green said: “That football-related arrests are at an all-time low is testament to our hugely successful model of football policing.

“Where hooliganism was once described as ‘the English disease’, we now set an example for others to follow.

“No English supporters have been arrested for football-related offences at the last two major international tournaments, and domestically more than half of all matches had no police presence last season – freeing up officers to be on the beat in their communities.

“Despite this progress, football disorder has not been eradicated and remains a lingering threat. That is why we continue to work closely with European partners for international matches and use tough banning orders against those who step out of line.”