Letters: Taking steps to tackle football violence

Instead of only playing matches in private, I submit that, at the first sign of trouble on the pitch, any television coverage is immediately blanked out in the same way that TV coverage of live debates in parliament is suspended if there is a significant disturbance there.

If the big clubs lost ticket sales and their television coverage was hit, I'm sure that they would soon learn to behave like adults.

I have no axe to grind here. I've never watched a football match in my life. But no-one can be ignorant of the effect it has on a large group who use it as an excuse to vent their pent-up tribal violence.

Barry Lees

Denholm Street

Greenock

Iain J McConnell's call for Rangers versus Celtic games to be played without spectators present neatly highlights that finance is both the root and the potential cure of the problem.

The money-men who control both clubs have appointed mouthy managers as a business strategy. If it is made clear that this strategy is costing the clubs money, rather than boosting their profits, then the antics of the managers and the players they control will be curbed by those same money-men quickly.

IRVINE INGLIS

Reston

Berwickshire

The First Minister and the Scottish Football Association should require Mr Lennon and Mr McCoist to attend, for the duration of the next Old Firm game and the night following, the Accident and Emergency department at Glasgow Royal Infirmary.

For good measure the directors of both football clubs and any unused substitutes should also attend.

Bruce Halliday

Dalbeattie Road

Dumfries