Bradford City have vowed to continue to improve their disciplinary record after being fined £25,000 by the Football Association for an end of match brawl.

Both the Bantams and Bury were found guilty of failing to control their players and officials when a fight broke out at the end of their Division One clash at Valley Parade on December 13.

But the three-man FA Commission, who were shown a video of the incidents, decided that £20,000 of the punishment would be suspended until the end of next season.

Managing director Shaun Harvey who represented City at the hearing said: "We feel there has been a significant improvement in the behaviour of the players since Paul Jewell became manager in January.

"Paul is aware of the responsibility placed on him in ensuring that our players conduct themselves in a manner that is appropriate and not in breach of FA regulations.

"Even though there is a suspended fine hanging over our heads it won't change the board's view that this sort of behaviour is unacceptable.

"The fact that we were fined £25,000, of which £20,000 was suspended is secondary to the image of the club.

"We are trying to portray a family image and that image suffered a blow after the Bury match. The fact that we won 1-0 was virtually forgotten which is unfortunate.

"We pleaded guilty to the charges and the commission heard our plea in mitigation relating to the timing of the incident - in the 95th minute, the location of the incident adjacent to the dug-outs and the scoreline at the time which meant that Bury were pressing strongly for an equaliser. "

If the clubs are involved in similar offences during the next year they are liable to be fined either part or the whole of the £20,000 figure.

Adrian Bevington, media relations officer for the FA said they took a serious view of the matter, but the previous good record of both clubs had been taken into account along with mitigating circumstances.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.