CHAIRMAN APPEALS FOR BEST BEHAVIOUR FROM SUPPORTERS

Saints Chairman Steve Brown has issued a stark Euro warning to Saints fans – behave or you could cost your club dearly – and find yourself banned from McDiarmid Park.

Saints were fined over £14,000 last season and Brown has warned fans that the club will be hit hard over any further misdemeanours this season.

Speaking ahead of tonight’s Europa League return leg against Armenian’s Alashkert FC Brown said:

“The atmosphere at our home European ties these past three seasons has been absolutely tremendous – unforgettable – but through a mixture of over-exuberance, lac k of awareness and in some cases, plain misbehaviour, we have sailed close to the wind on some occasions and were hit hard last season.

“UEFA have a zero-tolerance approach to a range of issues and they have a delegate at every single tie whose job it is to report any such incidents to the governing body. Against Rosenborg two years ago a flare was let off prior to kick off and last year a supporter chose to briefly display a Palestinian flag at the game against Spartak – those two incidents have cost the club over £20,000 in fines.

“The bottom line is that there are a range of behaviours which are unacceptable – and this applies to domestic football as well but UEFA are particularly stringent on their implementation – and which we cannot allow to happen. Racist or abusive chanting, pitch incursions, any form of firework or pyrotechnic, the displaying of religious or political flags – these will all land the club in hot water and our previous misdemeanours will be taken into account when a punishment is being handed out so I would appeal to all fans to play their part in ensuring that we do not fall foul of UEFA.

“Extensive searches will be carried out on supporters by stewards and I would appeal to fans to turn up early to ensure that these can take place and still have people in their seats in time for kick-off.

“Any supporter who is identified as having let the club down will be banned from the stadium for life - I can’t be any clearer than that.

“These are great occasions to be involved in but with the higher profile comes a higher level of responsibility.”