English police have announced increased measures to be taken in a bid to avoid trouble at next month's Ireland v England international friendly at the Aviva Stadium.
The 7 June encounter in Dublin will be the first time that the two sides have met in Ireland since the infamous 1995 encounter at Lansdowne Road where English supporters rioted.
Among the steps that the English police will be taking are; the use of a police 'spotter' group to identify any trouble-makers, the confiscation of passports of those subject to banning orders and a stringent ticketing policy.
In addition to requirement for fans subject to banning orders to surrender their passports, they will have to attend a nominated police station on match day and sign to confirm attendance.
Assistant Chief Constable Mark Roberts, who will be leading the spotter group to assist An Garda Síochána in Dublin, is determined the match will pass off without incident.
"While the majority of fans continue to behave themselves, in the last four England away fixtures we have seen a significant amount of drunken anti-social behaviour, unpleasant chanting aimed at provoking home supporters and a small number of people who seem to take every opportunity to create distress for others," he said.
"Regrettably that means we have to increase our enforcement activity using tactics that proved successful in addressing these problems in the past.
"Given the deterioration in fan behaviour and the proximity of Dublin, I have reintroduced the requirement to sign on at a police station as well as to surrender passports.
"We will be running a national operation to round up those who fail to comply before and immediately after the fixture," he added.
"To make triply sure of compliance, these measures will be supplemented with all official England Supporters Travelling Club members being required to collect their tickets in person in Dublin with photo ID.
“I am in regular contact with the FA and other partners in the football community and, while there is no specific intelligence as yet to suggest planned disorder there is sufficient concern to take proactive action to ensure that fans are clear that bad behaviour is not acceptable and will face serious sanctions."
