People who wish to cause trouble and stir up racial and religious hatred know every trick in the book.

Every organisation, including football clubs, have an irresponsible minority who seem to prefer causing trouble than watching football.

It may involve throwing coins at managers, punching goalkeepers or chanting and singing sectarian songs.

The people who are most annoyed and embarrassed by such actions are the genuine fans of the clubs and we support action by clubs to stamp it out.

But it is national troublemakers like the so called Tommy Robinson who are prepared to cause major incidents which trash the good name of organisations like Heart of Midlothian in pursuit of their aims.

Hearts has one of the finest stories of any football club in the whole of the UK.

In 1914 the players in the first team, when sitting top of the league, all joined McCrae’s battalion to fight for their country in the first world war and most of them never returned.

At Hearts now fans are working in the local communities with people of all religions and none through the Big Hearts Community Trust.

Through the Foundation of Hearts over 8,000 supporters contributed every month to keep the Club alive and continue still to help it grow.

It would be a disgrace if anyone tried to use our club in any way to promote an agenda of hatred and division which is what it appears Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, is trying to do.

Fans at Tynecastle will, of course, be prepared to unite to see him off if he tries to use our club as a vehicle for his campaign of hatred.

However, if he does get to the ground, there will inevitably be trouble and the consequent bad publicity which will be used by some to attack the club.

But the club itself has neither the information nor the resources to stop him.

That is why Ian Murray, Angus Robertson and I, all long term Hearts supporters, have issued a joint plea to Police Scotland to use the intelligence and resources at their disposal to keep him away.

The overwhelming majority of Hearts, and Rangers, fans want to enjoy a good game of football without any interference from a man known to incite trouble wherever he goes and we all need and deserve the protection of Police Scotland to allow us to do so.

George FoulkeS, Baron Foulkes of Cumnock, is a life peer and was a Labour MP from 1979 until 2005. He is also the former Chair of Heart of Midlothian Football Club.