English Football Association chairman David Bernstein wants fans who "hijack" matches with bad behaviour to be handed life bans.
The FA chief spoke in the aftermath of Sunday's heated Manchester derby which saw United defender Rio Ferdinand struck by a coin thrown from the crowd and nine others charged by police in connection with the match.
Images of Ferdinand's bloodied face cut-open just above the eyebrow and City keeper Joe Hart holding back a fan who had invaded the pitch following Robin van Persie's stoppage-time winner to confront Ferdinand have been published around the globe tarnishing what was a thrilling encounter.
"I think it's disturbing that we are seeing a recurrence of these sorts of incidents. We've had some racial abuse issues ... we've had things being thrown at players. They are unacceptable and they have to be dealt with severely," Bernstein said.
"In my mind it's for the FA, it's for the whole game of football and for the authorities to work together to deal with this in the most severe manner."
He added that these people, if and when they were caught, needed to be banned for life.