PERTH FANS linked to violent altercations in Inverness before a first division match have been indefinitely banned from attending matches at St Johnstone’s McDiarmid Park home.

Trouble flared in the Highland capital on Saturday, March 11, when Saints fans clashed with Hearts supporters before their games against Ross County and Caley Thistle respectively.

Northern Constabulary received information of organised trouble before the games and numerous arrests were made during the day.

St Johnstone FC confirmed it had sent letters to various people allegedly involved in incidents in Inverness.

A club spokesman said the fans would not be welcome at the side’s home games “for the foreseeable future”.

Yesterday fans’ forums were inundated with comments from irate supporters, many of them denying that Saints fans had been involved in any trouble.

One supporter said, “Saints have lost 20 fans, some fans who have been supporting the club longer than Geoff Brown has owned it for.”

However, a St Johnstone FC spokesman said the club wished to send out a strong message.

He said, “Acting upon information from the police … St Johnstone has sent letters to those who, whilst acting with others, were involved in incidents in Inverness, which resulted in them being charged with breach of the peace.

“The chairman, Geoff Brown and the board, take a dim view of these matters, which tarnish the good name and reputation of the club.

“These people will now have received notification of this to say that they will be banned from the ground for the foreseeable future.”

And there were some fans willing to back the club’s stance.

One supporter commented, “All I would say is that judging by the reports of the antics of certain ‘fans’ in Inverness, the club probably feels 100% justified in taking this type of action.

“And who can blame them? There is no place for these type of people following St Johnstone and giving the club a bad name.”

Northern Constabulary mounted a sizeable operation after advance information suggested that groups of St Johnstone and Hearts supporters were intending to travel to Inverness with the intention of taking part in violent confrontation.

Police used CCTV surveillance to track the rival fans and identify troublemakers, in conjunction with colleagues in the British Transport Police.

There was an increased police presence in both Inverness and Dingwall on the Saturday and close supervision of fans and a number of arrests made.

The force did, however, say that those involved formed a very small minority of fans from both clubs, who were otherwise well behaved.