NEWTOWN Football Club were left to foot the bill after last weekend’s crunch derby at home to Aberystwyth Town attracted crowd trouble.
Both clubs were alerted by ongoing discussions on a popular social networking site in the week leading up to the game, with the police then informed to ensure rival supporters did not clash.
Although one supporter was arrested after an altercation with a steward, Dyfed Powys Police contained further incidents with the game ending in a costly 2-1 defeat for the home side.
However Newtown Football Club secretary Owen Durbridge was far from happy after the club was forced to fork out for extra stewarding and policing around the ground.
Durbidge also insisted the Robins could have done without the bad publicity for such a high profile game.
“The unfortunate aspect of it is that the club has received poor publicity from the exchange of nonsense and a lot of expense was spent policing football in Newtown.
“The club has never needed this before and I hope it will never be needed again.”
“We stage football to entertain lovers of football and for no other reason so thanks go to to the new fans for their support and many thanks for abiding by our request for good standards of behaviour.
“Also, a special word of thanks to the stewards and fans from Aberystwyth, who followed our requests to the letter.”
Dyfed-Powys Police Inspector Steve Lloyd confirmed the operation had been a success, which started with them picking up the scent on a popular networking site.
Several units were then deployed, including the British Transport Police, to monitor travelling supporters with many making the trip to Newtown via the rail network.
“The information meant an increased stewarding and police presence was provided for the Latham Park clash between the two teams which took place later in the day,” said Insp Lloyd.
“Newtown Football Club had provided additional stewards for the match and implemented a search policy in relation to fans entering the ground and with extra security inside the ground.”