New Home Office figures reveal that Bradford City has the second-highest number of banning orders against supporters in League One and is ahead of local rivals Leeds United, who are in the Championship.

Football violence is something we would all hope had been consigned to the dark days of the 1980s, when it was a very real threat to the national game.

But we must consider several factors when looking at this report. Bradford City fans do, in the main, express exemplary behaviour at matches and the club is renowned for having a loyal and vocal following.

Bradford City has many more supporters on match days than some comparable clubs and we must take this into account when looking at the figures which show 30 City fans were arrested last season and a total of 56 are currently the subject of banning orders.

Also, the situation is improving, with only three new banning orders imposed in the last 12 months. The fact that banning orders have been imposed shows more that the authorities take public disorder at football very seriously rather than there being a growing problem.

That said, none of us can afford to become complacent. There will always be bad apples in any barrel, those who either set out to cause trouble in the first place or allow the passions of the game to get the better of their tempers.

Football, these days, is a family game and everyone should be able to enjoy the match-day atmosphere without fear of violence spilling over to innocent supporters. Anyone who disagrees with that should quite rightly face a ban from attending matches.