Police have revealed they have seized passports from 21 known football hooligans in Northamptonshire as part of a crackdown to coincide with the Euro 2012 championships.
High numbers of officers were in Northampton town centre last night, as England played their first match of the tournament against France.
Early indications are that the evening passed peacefully, with police vans patrolling the town centre before and after the 5pm kick-off.
England will next be in action on Friday night, at 7.45pm, when they play Sweden.
Today, police confirmed no known football troublemakers from Northamptonshire have travelled to Poland and the Ukraine to watch England in the European Football Championship.
A total of 21 people from the county, including one person living in Australia, are subject to banning orders and all 21 have been contacted by Northamptonshire Police and had surrendered their passports before England’s opening game.
All those with banning orders will continue to be monitored by police.
Seven of those subject to banning orders are allied to Northampton Town FC, four to Kettering Town and one to Rushden.
The other nine were issued with banning orders following football incidents at Arsenal, Aston Villa, Leicester City, Leeds United, Norwich City and West Ham United.
PC Nick Price, of the Force Intelligence Unit, said: “The UK Football Policing Unit is primarily interested in ensuring no known troublemakers from this county have travelled to the tournament and we are satisfied this is the case.
“We are keeping a close eye on those who have banning orders in Northamptonshire to make sure they do not step out of line.
“Anyone who does not comply with any requirement made by the Football Banning Order Authority commits a criminal offence and will be subjected to priority action.
“We want to hear from anyone who has information about troublemakers who cross the line while watching the football and we would also appreciate information about anyone planning to cause disorder or commit offences in our town centres.
“Information is vital to us nipping any potential problems in the bud so please let us know or ring Crimestoppers.”