Non-league football clubs across the West Midlands are working together to try to tackle antisocial behaviour from teenagers causing trouble in and around grounds.

Recent incidents include stones being thrown at away fans and an opposition team's kit man being punched.

Some clubs are changing their ticket rules so under-16s have to be accompanied by an adult, while others are in talks to come up with a collaborative approach.

The Football Association (FA) said it was working with clubs to help them develop policies to safely welcome young fans, while ensuring their best interests and other supporters were appropriately considered.

Stratford Town FC said it had received reports of teenagers travelling into the area from other places, who support neither the home nor away team, with the clear intention of causing trouble.

The club said while they had not seen any disorder or issues inside their ground, there had been reports of "appalling behaviour" in the town before and after the last two home games.

So they had now changed their ticketing rules - under-16s would not be allowed in without an accompanying adult unless they were members of their Junior Bards supporters club.

Chairman Jed McCrory explained why the club came to that decision:

"We can't have what you're seeing up and down the country at the minute. Groups of [up to] 50 kids turning up in Stratford, wearing all black balaclavas, scarves, face masks," he said.

"We're not having trouble at the ground, but if I can stop the trouble within the community by setting up a membership card and by insisting that the under-16s come with a parent for the benefit of the residents, I will."

Neighbouring clubs in Warwickshire are also having similar experiences. Leamington FC put out a statement saying they are aware of incidents involving young fans at two away games, and recently had police officers at a match to monitor behaviour.

Meanwhile Racing Club Warwick said it had introduced extra security to try and deal with the situation.

Racing Chairman Gary Vella did not think it was a case of rival fans lashing out at each other.

"Sometimes I don't think a lot of these young people really affiliate themselves with a particular club," he explained.

"I think they're literally just young people looking for something to do, and maybe that's a societal thing that needs to be addressed externally outside of our remit, but we can only do what we can on a club-by-club basis."

Warwickshire Police said it was working closely with neighbouring police forces, partners and clubs to gather intelligence and put plans in place for extra patrols and staffing during matches, where required.

"Specifically in Stratford, we are in regular communication with the football team," the force said.

"On one occasion in recent weeks we received a report of a group of males who had travelled in by train behaving anti-socially in town on the day of a match. This was swiftly dealt with."

Over in Worcestershire, other clubs are facing a similar problem.

Redditch United chairman David Faulkner said the club was seeing increasing levels of anti-social behaviour from teenagers.

"Non-league football clubs are being ambushed. We've got large crowds of youth that are turning up at games, often from well outside the areas that the clubs that we're in represent," he said.

"We're in desperate need of some additional resources to try and help police this new trend as it is."

Faulkner added that the problem appeared to be driven by social media, involved young teenagers and was proving difficult to stop.

"There are things we can do inside and outside the ground and camera systems but our current objective, we're looking to spend about £100,000," he said.

"To put that into context that's roughly what we bring in on gate income for a whole season."

Meanwhile Alvechurch FC are dealing with a complaint made to the FA, after a teenager invaded their pitch after their recent FA Cup win against Spalding and allegedly punched the opposition team's kit man.

After the same game, a group intimidated a father and his 10-year-old daughter outside the ground.

Chairman Richard Thorndike said it was "outrageous" and he had never seen behaviour like it in his 16 years at the club:

"We're a small club who can't afford much security so I think that's why we're being targeted," he said.

"We should be celebrating having a good FA Cup run but now we're having to deal with the FA about this incident and are preparing to receive a fine for something that's hard for us to control due to our size.

"This is totally unacceptable, extremely embarrassing for the club and simply not what Alvechurch FC is about."

West Mercia Police said it was important to recognise that most football fans were "genuine fans" who were well-behaved and attended to enjoy the game.

The force said it was aware of concerns around anti-social behaviour at recent fixtures and was working with Redditch FC on measures to improve safety, including supporting a policy that required under-16s to be accompanied by a responsible adult.

Safer neighbourhood Inspector Richard Field said officers had carried out more than 50 anti-social behaviour prevention visits.

"Where appropriate, these visits have involved parents and guardians, with follow-up action taken to prevent further incidents," he said.

"Our aim is to work with partners to deal with issues early, prevent problems escalating and ensure local football remains safe and welcoming for players, volunteers, supporters and the wider community."

In a statement, the FA said: "We are currently working with stakeholders across the National League System (NLS) to help them develop policies that safely welcome young fans to NLS grounds, while ensuring that the best interests of clubs and their supporters are appropriately considered."