"Gang-related activities'' were behind the outbreak of violence among football fans which led to the stabbing of a Police officer at the Somerset versus Boulevard match on Tuesday night, The Royal Gazette has learned.

An outraged Bermuda Football Association, which reacted swiftly on reading of the incident in yesterday's paper with a hastily convened Press conference, said they had been told football matches were being used as an outlet for such activities.

And one woman, who witnessed the fighting from near its centre, warned the situation was "only going to get worse''.

"It was a fight between Somerset and Town guys,'' said the woman, who asked not to be identified. "They hate each other. They do not like to be intimidated by the other crew and aren't scared to fight or get into trouble.

They like to mark their territory and whoever crosses the line is considered an enemy.'' An outraged BFA president Neville Tyrrell told the media: "Football is tired of being held responsible for Bermuda's troubled youths.

"We do not believe it has anything to do with the playing of football.

"Our intelligence tells us that venues for football matches seem to be the scene these days for what can be termed gang activity.'' P.c. Paul Simons, 30, one of a task force sent to the ground after the trouble erupted three minutes from the end of the game, suffered two stab wounds to his lower left side and back.

He had to be carried by colleagues to a Police van before being transported to Barnes Corner where he was met by a waiting ambulance.

He was in a stable condition in King Edward VII Memorial Hospital last night after being moved from intensive care to a general ward late yesterday afternoon. Two men from Sandys Parish have been arrested in connection with the incident. The men, aged 26 and 27, were being questioned last night as Police tried to piece together the sequence of events.

But the woman who witnessed the violence from close to where it erupted in the eastern corner of the ground, described the scenes that led up to the knife attack.

"I heard guys behind me getting angry and threatening to hurt other guys throughout the game,'' she said. "The game was nearly over when I saw two guys fighting by the steps. A few people tried to break it up, but that just escalated the anger.

"They were saying `don't hold me back, I'll break those guys'.

"Then a group of about 80 guys jumped onto the field while the game was still going on and started to fight each other. It looked like a free for all wrestling match out there. I couldn't believe the amount of guys who ran to join in.

"Then someone yelled: `He has a knife. Get that knife away from that guy'.

The next thing I knew, people were saying that someone got stabbed. At the time nobody knew it was a Police officer.

"I didn't see who had the knife or who got stabbed, but I did see guys getting hit with bottles and baseball bats.'' The woman said the fighting spread to the parking area and by around 10.30 p.m, 40 minutes after the trouble began, about 100 people had gathered at the entrance to the ground. People trying to leave in their cars were set upon, she added.

"One guy tried to pull another guy out of his car as he was driving away. He reached through the window and hit him in the face a few times with a baseball bat.

"Two guys went home to get their dogs. They threatened to make their pitbulls attack the guys they didn't like. If those dogs had gotten loose who knows what might have happened.

"They weren't friendly dogs, I know that.'' And she claimed: "The Police were nowhere to be seen at this point. The only time I saw them was when the fight first began. They just seemed to disappear after that.

"The guys involved were really vexed. They were itching for a fight. They still are.

"It all started to get out of hand at Harbour Nights in the summer. Now it has escalated to the point where guys are brandishing knives and other weapons.'' BFA seeks public help: Sport, Page 21 SOCCER SOC