Birmingham fans who swarmed onto the field...

Birmingham fans who swarmed onto the field during a soccer game last weekend at London’s Crystal Palace, leading to 16 injuries and 17 arrests, were part of an organized plan to cause trouble, according to results of a club investigation.

The English League game was halted for 27 minutes because of on-field clashes.

Crystal Palace chairman Ron Noades said the actions by visiting Birmingham fans were “organized, orchestrated and premeditated.”

The fan violence at Crystal Palace was echoed during and after several other games around the country, leading to 255 arrests on the last full Saturday of league soccer this season in England.

English clubs have been barred from playing in European competition since the Heysel Stadium disaster of 1985, in which rioting by Liverpool fans led to 39 deaths, but European soccer officials recently voted to allow England back in 1990-91.

However, those authorities have made the return of England to competition dependent on continued good behavior by fans, as well as the government’s approval of English clubs traveling throughout Europe.