FOOTBALL hooligans face lengthy bans from York City's ground after a violent fight put one fan in hospital.

Police said it was thought two Exeter City fans were set upon by a gang of York supporters as they were leaving the ground just before 5pm on Saturday.

Reports at the scene suggested about 20 people were involved in the fighting after the clash between the two teams saw York win 4-2. The match had attracted a crowd of more than 3,500 - the biggest of the season.

Up to ten police officers were called to the scene to deal with the violence.

The assaulted Exeter City fan was taken to York Hospital by ambulance with a head injury, but police said he had now been discharged.

York City officials and police will now examine CCTV footage, and any culprits identified face being banned from the ground.

Sophie McGill, York City's communications and community director, said: "We intend to enforce a ban on any individuals we can identify."

She said the club's board had not yet discussed what the length of that ban would be, but she would expect it would be at least a year. "We intend to take a hard view on behaviour of this manner," she said.

The director said the club was "ashamed and embarrassed" by the violence outside its grounds, and would be writing to Exeter FC to explain the "background to this incident and apologise on behalf of the club".

But Ms McGill said she did not believe the hooligans involved in Saturday's fighting were true York City supporters.

Furthermore, it was thought they had actually left the match well before it had ended, possibly when York were 3-1 up with 20 minutes of the game remaining.

"Proper football supporters don't leave matches early in my experience," she said. "There was certainly another York City goal to see. I suspect those people are not true York City fans who have been following us from the start of the season. It's sad - we have a really strong relationship with Exeter. Both clubs are supporter-owned clubs."

Updated: 10:36 Monday, October 03, 2005