First south coast derby since 2012 ended with no reports of anyone being injured, Hampshire Police say
Wednesday 25 September 2019 11:58, UK
A fan aimed a punch at a police horse at Tuesday night's south coast derby between Portsmouth and Southampton at Fratton Park.
Hampshire Police say five arrests were made following Tuesday's Carabao Cup third-round match, including a 42-year-old man on suspicion of animal cruelty and attempted criminal damage. He remains in custody.
A 40-year-old man, who remains in custody, was arrested on suspicion of possession of a pyrotechnic.
Meanwhile, two teenagers, 18 and 19 respectively, were given a conditional caution for a public order defence.
Another man, aged 20, was arrested on suspicion of a public order offence. He was later released with no action to be taken.
Ahead of the game - which ended 4-0 to Southampton - footage emerged of police trying to separate the two sets of supporters.
Hampshire Police oversaw their biggest ever football-policing operation for Tuesday's match - the first south coast derby since 2012.
Assistant Chief Constable Scott Chilton said: "Our priority was to keep people safe and I'm pleased to be able to say this morning that our policing operation has achieved that.
"We knew that the majority of fans wanted to enjoy this match without having to worry about their safety and we did want we felt was needed to reassure them.
"Sadly we had to prepare for the potential that a minority would try and ruin it for everyone else and this required us, in conjunction with both clubs and our partners, to put plans in place to ensure we were ready to stop that.
"As expected, due to the nature of the routes to and from Fratton Park, there were times were groups of opposing fans came into close proximity to one another.
"However, as a result of our careful planning we were able to keep these groups apart and get them to and from the stadium safely.
"I think the fact that we have had no reports of anyone being injured and only a few people arrested is testament to the hard work that everyone has put into this operation.
"I would like to thank the fans for supporting our officers throughout the day and for those who helped us during the planning process.
"Today everyone is talking about what happened on the pitch, not off it, which is exactly what we wanted."
Dog units, drones and helicopters were used by police.
