The ugly spectre of violence returned to haunt Bermuda football yesterday, with machete-wielding thugs once again heaping shame on the national sport.

More than 2,000 fans jammed into Southampton Oval to watch PHC and Trojans battle it out for a 2-2 draw but the real fighting began just minutes after the final whistle of what had been an entertaining game.

Machetes were drawn behind the clubhouse and in the car park as angry youths once again used a sports ground as an arena for violence, in an all too familiar scene.

Police confirmed at least one man was injured although he failed to seek any medical attention and all combatants had fled the scene by the time officers arrived.

Bermuda Football Association president Larry Mussenden was quick to condemn the opening weekend outbreak of violence, although admitted he was yet to receive any official notification of the events from either fellow BFA executives or either of the clubs involved.

?Anyone who would take weapons to a football ground must be a lunatic or an idiot,? a furious Mussenden told yesterday after being informed of what had happened.

?We have seen two Premier matches already this weekend pass off without incident and we were looking forward to a season of violence-free football like the one we had seen last season.

?We had hoped that anyone harbouring any intentions of bringing this kind of behaviour to football matches would have been put off by a combination of the high profile Wellington Oval trial and the new legislation bringing in mandatory sentences for possession of blades in a public place.

?Once again a minority are using sports grounds, including football grounds, as an arena for their violence and it will not be tolerated.

?We would urge any witnesses to the events to come forward and we would hope to see the full force of the law applied to anyone involved in this.

?We will await official reports on this matter from both the Police and the clubs and then we will look into what can be done in the future.?

Mussenden hinted that increased security measures were being looked at by the BFA and that any additional costs would almost certainly be borne by the spectators.

?We have already experimented with the use of security wands but maybe we will have to take matters further,? said Mussenden.

?Mandatory security barriers are one option or paying for more security for searches of individuals and vehicles. If there is an increased to the costs that may well mean the cost being passed on and admission having to rise.

?That, unfortunately, may be the consequence of these type of events. The football family has been working hard to improve security and safety at football matches but this is a community problem and there is only so much we can do

?We talked just this week at the association?s AGM about the need to identify high-risk matches and possible secure Policing for such event, although this was not a game we saw as high-risk. There may be a need to rethink how we approach this.

?But it comes down to the action of individuals and, for the good of the sport, people need to take responsibility for their own actions and those around them.?

Mussenden added that he would speak further on the issues after he had seen official reports.

Southampton Rangers president John Tucker, meanwhile, called for Policing to be brought in for key matches.

?I couldn?t really tell what happened outside, but we decided to quickly close the doors,? he said.

?It was very disappointing this had to happen after such a nice game of football. There were so many people up here and everyone was enjoying themselves.

?But this sort of problem is getting out of hand and I think it?s very important for the Police to be present at these big matches. I think had the Police been present this incident might not have happened in the first place.

?The clubs and the association have been talking about hiring a security firm. They are looking to assist because the clubs can only provide so much security and we had a lot of people up here today. It was jam-packed.?