Billericay Town FC may ban rival fans from its ground to protect its own supporters after rampaging rival supporters petrified Blues fans at an away game.

The club is considering blocking supporters of rival club Aldershot Town from entering its Blunts Wall Road ground following crowd trouble at Saturday's match.

It is the third time in recent years that Blues supporters have been targeted by Aldershot hooligans.

The Rymans League Premier Division game at Aldershot's home ground descended into chaos after a mob of Aldershot supporters bent on confrontation found their way into an enclosure containing more than 100 travelling Blues fans, including families.

With the hooligans lashing out at anyone in blue, the match was stopped while Billericay Town chairman Rod Moore and manager John Kendall, who both had young sons in the crowd, joined Aldershot officals in appealing for calm.

Mr Moore recalled: "My son was very, very shocked by what he saw. At one stage he was just three yards away from a man who was being kicked on the ground. That kind of behaviour could have killed someone. They were just animals."

The match eventually restarted after the situation was brought back under control. It ended in a 1- 0 win for Billericay.

Mr Moore, who had personally guided Blues fans into the enclosure having been assured that it would be securely segregated, was furious at the position that the supporters had been put in and demanded that the club take action.

He said: "I personally recognised at least half a dozen troublemakers from the last time we played them at home. How did they get into the ground?

"Aldershot has a hooligan element and they need to recognise that and do something about it. If not we may have to make a stand and say that we don't want their supporters here so our own supporters can watch the game in safety."

Aldershot chairman Karl Prentice responded: "We would like to apologise to anybody caught up in the trouble.

"We are having an inquest to see how the trouble started and where it came from. If we identify the people involved they will no longer be welcome at this football club and we will do our utmost to make sure that they never travel to Billericay."

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