LANCASHIRE Constabulary has received more than £200,000 in Government cash to target football hooligans and get them banned from grounds before the European Champions in Portugal.

Crime Reporter IAN SINGLETON spent a night watching the police's hooligan spotters in action. . .

A FAMILY of four head down Bolton Road towards Ewood Park chatting excitedly in anticipation of the game.

Around them, the pavements are filled with thousands of other Blackburn Rovers fans doing the same.

All these groups of friends are in a world of their own as they discuss the team's poor form and what they would do if they were the manager.

They seem to be paying little attention to where they are going but are almost hypnotically heading towards the ground.

Rovers have failed to win for two months and the tension throbs in the air - yet there is not the slightest hint that this may transfer into violence.

Safety is something the home supporters take for granted - even though Everton are bringing 4,000 fans.

Among the masses is a man who, at a glance, looks like a fan in dark blue clothes and a baseball cap.

On closer inspection, his eyes dart from face to face in concentration and, sometimes, recognition.

In his right ear is a tiny speaker transmitting the police radio.

He is Detective Constable Tim McDermott, football intelligence officer for Blackburn Rovers, and currently trying to spot some of the club's 25 'risk supporters' - more commonly known as hooligans.

The crowds are heading to the ground oblivious to the police operation that is taking place to keep two groups of Blackburn and Everton hooligans apart.

DC McDermott is liaising by mobile phone with two teams of six police officers who have been deployed in full uniform in the Ewood and town centre areas.

The teams are made up of two Blackburn Rovers hooligan spotters, an Everton spotter from Merseyside Police and three evidence-gatherers armed with video cameras.

Usually, there would only be one team but, due to the large away following, Everton is classed as a 'category C' game, the highest of three risk categories.

News of the hooligans came through at about 6.30pm. One of the teams spotted around 20 of Blackburn's known risk supporters in a town centre pub.

Rather than a worrying development, this pleased the police who prefer to know where they are.

Immediately, a large police van, a vehicle containing dogs and two patrol cars parked up outside the pub.

The officers went to speak to the group - and they all knew each other, as is the case with so many of these 'cat and mouse' games.

But it seemed that the men enjoyed this attention as officers chatted to them in an attempt to get a feel for what they had planned.

The police did not let them out of sight again all evening.

DC McDermott said: "The risk supporters are being targeted because they have previous convictions for disorder offences and football-related disorder.

"Sometimes it will be something that has not amounted to a substantial offence, but their behaviour and demeanour will suggest they are trying to have a confrontation.

"Some of these people will have no convictions, but by their association with these people who do have convictions, they become termed to pose a risk."

While the Rovers hooligans are being watched, Det Con McDermott is trying to spot other risk supporters in Bolton Road.

He said this was made easier by the uniform of football hooligans - Burberry and Stone Island clothing.

If he spots groups of men wearing these garments he will ask officers to have a quiet and friendly word.

Some teenagers fitting the bill were discreetly filmed as they stood in the door of an Ewood pub.

While on patrol, though, word comes through that a group of Everton hooligans are drinking in an Ewood pub - and they too are constantly watched.

It is now about 7.30pm and the group of Rovers fans are in a pub close to Ewood Park, just down the road from the Everton hooligans.

But there was no trouble as the supporters never attempted to get close to each other, probably because of the discouraging police presence.

Officers said they believed the hooligans would have met up and fought if they were not there.

As kick-off approached the Everton fans headed to the ground - all but a few who were very drunk gained access.

Most of the 'risk' Rovers fans stayed to watch the game in the pub.

The 2-1 result for Blackburn was good news for the police. It meant Rovers fans went home happy and the Everton supporters could not wait to get on their coaches for the journey back to Merseyside.

After a final sweep of town centre pubs it appears all the risk supporters have gone home and the officers have quietly completed a successful night's work once again.

It is a Catch 22 for police. They want to get the fans banned but by keeping the groups under constant watch, there was no disorder and nothing to arrest them for.

DC McDermott said: "We would rather prevent it than let something happen and risk ordinary fans getting hurt to make arrests.

"We want these people banned from football but we are not going to let them commit offences to achieve that."

As a result, Ewood Park is one of the safest football grounds in the country, with just 25 arrests in the stadium last season.

DC McDermott added: "The vast majority of fans don't realise what we are doing and that is the way it should be.

"We want people to come to the match and not know that those people are around."