Birmingham, April 7:

Aston Villa coach Martin O’Neill said he hoped England was not returning to the dark days of hooliganism after incidents concerning Manchester United and Tottenham fans in Rome and Seville earlier this week.

His fears come after both United and Spurs were involved in ugly scenes during Champions League and UEFA Cup matches in Italy and Spain. The Aston Villa boss said: “I would certainly hope we are not returning to the dark days. You would hope the last few nights would be isolated cases.”

“These things have reared their head at a time when we felt the British game had sorted its problems out.”

English hooliganism reached a head in 1985 in Brussels when the deaths of 32 Italians, 4 Belgians, 2 French and 1 Irishman happened in a crush that followed a charge by Liverpool hooligans toward Juventus fans before the European Cup final.

Meanwhile, seven Tottenham supporters have been released from police custody after paying fines following their arrests at a UEFA Cup match against Sevilla. The fines were between $1,200-2,005, news agency Efe reported on Saturday.