Police check Portsmouth buses for flares as they arrive at Sunderland-Pompey game
Police at the Stadium of Light are checking coaches carrying Pompey fans to make sure no flares or smoke bombs are on board.
The move this lunchtime comes after a flare was thrown during the corresponding league game in April.
Then, the game – which ended 1-1 – was interrupted for several minutes after the flare went off, leaving one supporter needing medical attention for smoke inhalation.
In May 18-year-old Pompey fan Samuel Parrott of Norton Drive, Fareham, was banned from games for three years at South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court after admitting ‘throwing an item at a designated football ground’.
After that Sunderland reduced the away fan allocation for Pompey games, including the semi-final of the play-offs between the two teams at the end of last season.