Huddersfield police preparing for City fans

Last updated : 23 January 2003 By Michael Morris

EXTRA police will be on duty for Town's match against Cardiff City on Saturday.

But the message from senior officers planning to deal with a large crowd at the McAlpine Stadium was simple: "Come along to enjoy the football."

The fixture is a crucial one for both teams but has a history of hooligan behaviour.

A number of Cardiff supporters were arrested when the teams met in Huddersfield last season and are now involved in a legal battle with West Yorkshire Police.

They claim the police were heavy-handed when trying to prevent disturbances involving Huddersfield fans and visiting supporters.

Saturday's game will see more than 1,000 Cardiff fans head for Huddersfield and police are confident they can prevent any problems between the two sets of supporters.

Insp Graham Duguid, who is planning police operations, said: "We will be policing Saturday's match with sufficient officers to deal with any problems.

"People who want to come to the game should do so to enjoy the football.

"The main thing is that any supporter, from Town or Cardiff, should be able to come and hopefully enjoy a good game of football in a good atmosphere.

"It is being treated as a Category C match, which requires a higher than normal level of policing, and if people are intent on causing trouble we will have officers in place to deal with it".