Bolton manager's concern over fans with weapons amid growing safety worries

Bolton Wanderers boss Ian Evatt has demanded for football's lawmakers to stamp down on crowd trouble amid a rise in cases this season.

Last weekend saw a clutch of incidents take place, with fans invading the playing surfaces at both Rotherham and Nottingham Forest.

In addition, Evatt's side saw their game at Morecambe halted for ten minutes after alleged racist abuse from home fans towards the Bolton bench.

Lancashire Police have since confirmed that a 61-year-old man from Morecambe was arrested on suspicion of a racially-aggravated public order offence.

In an attempt to address the rise in cases, the Premier League and EFL have launched an urgent review into the recent spike of crowd trouble.

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The safety officers of all 92 clubs have been emailed a questionnaire to collect data and monitor certain trends at clubs.

But Evatt still feels more needs to be done.

"How are these supporters vetted?" Evatt said.

"Are they security checked? I don't know. These are extremes but any one of these could have a weapon.

"What's it going to take before we start bringing in more measures and being more stringent with our policies? It's happening more and more often.

"You've seen it with the racism side of it, the social media side of it, people entering the field of play. It's not good enough, it's not acceptable.

"We seem to be going back to the days of the 1970's and the 80's.

"We've moved on from that, society is better than that. But we have to come together and stamp it out because it's getting worse and worse.

"We seem to be reactive rather than proactive with all these things. As I said, what's it going to take for us to really stand up and make decisions and make protocols that are stringent to put people off?

"Is it going to take a player or a member of staff to get seriously injured or even worse? I don't know. I'd rather see us be more proactive than reactive and at the moment it seems to be the other way round."

Evatt's comments came after a weekend filled with unsavoury incidents, one of which saw his side's match with Morecambe brought to a halt for ten minutes by referee Ross Joyce.

Evatt, speaking post-match, said the verbal abuse his bench suffered was "the worst I've seen by far" in his career.

Elsewhere on Saturday, the League One game between Rotherham and Accrington Stanley saw two home fans enter the field just as Accrington's Harry Pell was about to take a penalty.

The two fans invaded the pitch, with one kicking the ball off the penalty spot.

A 21-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of assault and pitch incursion, with enquires ongoing. The other supporter was also arrested.

In a statement, Rotherham United confirmed the pair have been banned "permanently" by the South Yorkshire club.

On Sunday, the Nottingham Forest and Leicester City FA Cup clash saw another fan enter the pitch.

The supporter, who was sat in the away end at the City Ground, entered the field shortly after Forest had scored their third goal in the 4-1 victory.

A 19-year-old man was later charged by police with three counts of common assault and going on to a playing area at a football match.