BOLTON soccer yobs could be teaming up with hooligans in other clubs across Greater Manchester in a bid to wreck next month's Euro '96 Championships.

Football hooligan expert Peter Brighton says gangs of yobs from clubs including Bolton, Oldham, Wigan and Manchester City have pledged to team up in a bid to take on German thugs who will travelling to Britain to follow their team at Old Trafford in the early stages of the event.

Mr Brighton, a researcher who says he has contacts in gangs in Britain and abroad, believes there is unlikely to be massive pitched battles outside football grounds involving large gangs because of heavy police presences. But he warned that the problem could be pushed away from stadiums to smaller outlying towns such as Bolton, Blackburn and Blackpool, where the presence of a hard-core yobs could result in mayhem.

Mr Brighton, who writes for the anti-fascist journal, Searchlight, said around 300 hooligans from Germany - some with neo nazi connections - will be travelling to Manchester with a mission to "get the English".

He said: "The problem has been exaggerated, but there will certainly be a hooligan element intent on causing trouble.

"In England there have been moves to set up superfirms where the emphasis is on fighting for a region or town and in Greater Manchester gangs are getting together to take on the Germans.

"I don't think we will see big battles at matches but it will probably be pushed into other areas away from the ground and we could see some nasty injuries. "There could even be the possibility of fights arranged in smaller towns. It sounds bizarre but rival gangs help each other to outwit the police so they can fight."

Greater Manchester's Assistant Chief Constable, Malcolm George, is the national co-ordinator for the policing of Euro '96. He said he recognises the potential problems but is confident the police will remain on top of the situation.

He said: "Whilst I would like to say the event will be trouble free, I cannot guarantee total security. What we are trying to do is minimise the problems that a mindless minority could cause, by normal police methods with the ability to respond quickly."

Police plans for the event will be revealed in detail next week.

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