Premier League chiefs have growing concerns over the use of flares by fans at English stadiums.
Only eight pyrotechnic incidents were recorded across England's top five divisions in 2010-11 but last season there were 172 and there were 96 in the first three months of this campaign.
These include the smoke canister hurled towards the pitch that struck an assistant referee on the head during Aston Villa's game against Tottenham. Fans have received shrapnel wounds inside English grounds and others have suffered lung damage after smoke inhalation.
James Maddocks, an eight-year-old Everton fan and season-ticket holder, was treated for burns to his neck after he was hit by a smoke bomb thrown by Everton fans during the Merseyside derby at Anfield in May.
"Pyrotechnics are not innocent fun," Cathy Long, head of supporter services at the Premier League, told the Daily Mail. "They can be dangerous and there are victims."
