John Cross says it's time to punish every single fan that joins in with an unacceptable chant at a football match.

The Daily Mirror journalist was speaking after Manchester United condemned a small section of their own supporters for singing an inflammatory anti-Liverpool chant in the wake of the Hillsborough Report.

Sir Alex Ferguson called for better behaviour on the terraces earlier this week, but the club issued a statement on Saturday night condemning those who chanted 'always the victims, never your fault' during the victory over Wigan.

The issue was debated on this week's Sunday Supplement and Cross called for police and stewards to clamp down upon those who participate in offensive chanting.

But he said that supporters themselves must play a big role in identifying the perpetrators.

"I think you should alert stewards and you'd like to think they'd act upon it," Cross said.

"A couple of seasons ago when Ashley Cole was being abused at the Emirates I thought it was out of order and alerted a steward to it. Everyone's got to take their part.

"I don't think the stewards acted upon it that day and I was disappointed, but in this current climate you would like to think that stewards will pounce upon it and the police will pounce upon it.

"It is so unacceptable at the moment. Sir Alex Ferguson, this week, has been excellent and eloquent in appealing for fans to stop that. What happened at Old Trafford yesterday was a minority of fans. Surely lessons will have been learned from that?

"There have been developments in the last season or so. Some of these chants are very indiscriminate and unclear in the actual essence of the words - but we all know what the heart of the matter is.

"Football needs to clamp down upon it. Sometimes it's safety in numbers but when it's racist chants or offensive chants on any level, the moment we let any single one of those go is the moment we give up.

"We have to pounce on every single fan. You can remove those fans and you can arrest them. It's difficult for the police and stewards to do it, but let's start doing it.

"Let's bring back respect on the terraces."