CITY have promised to crack down hard on anyone involved in the fighting in the away end that followed Sunday’s defeat at Barnsley.

Police are investigating the ugly scenes which broke out among a group of travelling fans after the final whistle at Oakwell.

The club will today discuss the matter with safety officer David Dowse at their weekly management meeting. Director of operations David Baldwin has warned that any perpetrators will be punished.

He said: “We pride ourselves on eradicating any bad behaviour. If we find that to be the case then this is the time to really stamp down on it.

“We are all representatives of our football club and this is not what Bradford City are all about.

“It’s disappointing to hear. If substantiated, it’s a sad thing to see in-fighting between fans.

“However frustrated we may be over the results or performances, it’s never acceptable.

“Fighting among fans isn’t acceptable, full stop. It compounds it even further if it involves people who claim to support the same team.”

A Barnsley club spokesman said: “We are obviously aware of the disturbances and while it is disappointing, the police did intervene and are continuing to intervene. It is a police matter.

“The club would like to point out that the majority of the 10,500 crowd did conduct themselves in the right manner, which is pleasing.”

There have been recent instances of crowd trouble at local away games. Two seasons ago, City fans were caught up in fights with Chesterfield match stewards and last year’s FA Cup visit to Rotherham was marred by more disturbances.

Baldwin added: “We need to look into what has initially aggravated it in the first place; not what aggravated the ill-feeling at the end of the game but what caused it to step beyond acceptable boundaries between fans. It’s an on-going process.”