Real Culprits will not be at Hereford

Millwall Executive Deputy Chairman Heather Rabbatts has released a statement in which she spoke of the club determination to help identify those involved in the trouble at Hull yesterday.

"I have already spoken to a number of genuine fans as well as my other directors, and we are as one in our determination to rid this club of the element that caused problems on Saturday. The reality of the situation is that we have a core of around four or five hundred travelling fans who follow the team up and down the country week-in week-out causing no probems whatsoever. These people will now be identified by other clubs and police forces as potential trouble makers and treated accordingly, whilst the real culprits will not be at Hereford on Tuesday night for example.

"We, at Millwall, will continue to take responsibility for doing everything in our power to rid ourselves of a criminal element which clearly sees big games involving our club as an opportunity to indulge in anti-social behaviour. Saying that these are not genuine Millwall fans is not ducking the issue because clearly those who support the team regularly know what damage incidents such as Saturday's do to the club and are as dismayed by and condemnatory of these events as the rest of us.

"What is even more vital now, is that everyone working in football wakes up to the fact that there is still an anti-social hooligan element in our society which continues to be attracted to football as a vehicle for their activities. While Millwall's name was again the one that hit the media headlines, so-called Hull City fans were also arrested on Saturday and there were problems at other games just as there have been during the course of the season. Football clubs and the football authorities have to redouble our efforts in working with police and other agencies to tackle what remains a major issue for all of us."

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