POLICE are fed up with acting as escorts for unruly soccer fans going to and from A-League games, a top cop says.

Resources could be better used elsewhere and the practice should stop, says assistant commissioner Andrew Crisp.

Police presently watch over groups of fans as they march between pubs and stadiums to prevent violence, the lighting of flares and to protect the crowds from passing cars.

But Victoria Police will meet soccer fans, the sport’s governing body and security experts to work out a safe way to take cops off the A-League beat and on to more pressing public safety issues.

Mr Crisp told the Sunday Herald Sun soccer fans should not be treated any differently than other sports supporters.

“I’m not a fan of police marching to games and the aim is for that to stop happening,’’ Mr Crisp said.

“You don’t see it in other games and I don’t see why we should have to do it at soccer games.

“There are better ways we could use those resources.’’

The issue will be one of several raised by Victoria Police at a summit with Football Federation Australia, NSW Police and stadium representatives next month.

On Friday police had to separate soccer fans during a march through the city before Melbourne Victory’s elimination final against Sydney.

With the A-League regular season over, Mr Crisp said police were generally pleased with this year’s behaviour of soccer fans in Victoria despite about 30 being charged with a variety of offences.

But he said the use of fire crackers and flares at matches remained “a worrying trend’’.

And he revealed he thought a gun had been fired at a match between Melbourne Victory and Western Sydney Wanderers last season when an explosive was set off at AAMI Park.

“It was extremely loud and my first thought was something extremely serious had happened at the end of the ground,’’ Mr Crisp said.

Police and liquor authorities have written to pubs to remind them of the possibility of licence breaches when huge pre-match crowds arrive.

Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation spokesman John Smith said inspectors and police met with licensees before big events to “identify risks”.

“We’ve come from having a lot of things that we didn’t like the look of to a significant improvement in crowd behaviour,” Mr Smith said.

peter.rolfe@news.com.au