IT hasn't been an easy task for police to crack down on the sort of football violence that has shamed us at home and abroad so much in the past.

First, forces throughout the country had to pool intelligence and set up databanks of information so that yobs could be identified and pinpointed.

Then they had to be tracked at different league grounds, watched and removed from games the minute they started trouble.

Once that had happened, police could get banning orders to ensure that they did not get past the turnstiles.

Having identified troublemakers in this country, police then had to work with forces throughout the footballing world to stop these known yobs from travelling to follow England.

Apart from the shame to the nation caused by drunken, violent hooligans on the rampage abroad, international football bodies have made clear that if we don't keep our own yobs out, our team will be booted out.

With the help of the Football Disorder Act brought in four years ago police have already banned 70 people who have claimed to support Blackburn Rovers or Burnley from travelling to Portugal for Euro 2004 in June.

This week, Blackburn magistrates will hear applications to stop 18 more suspected hooligans from leaving the country. Let's hope such thorough work is rewarded by none of the problems of the past rearing their heads.