"I have not been treated fairly. I just want to go home," Paul Donahue from Manchester, northwest England, complained to reporters in the early hours of Friday morning, shortly after arriving at London's Heathrow Airport .

Sporting a black eye and cuts on his arm, the 32-year-old was cleared of criminal wrongdoing by a Portuguese court but banned from the country for five years.

He was among dozens arrested following two nights of clashes between mostly English supporters and riot police in the Algarve, where the majority of English fans are based for the Euro 2004 football tournament.

Eight of the 10 supporters who arrived back at Heathrow were facing another court appearance on Friday.

They were due to appear at a magistrates' court in London later in the day where British authorities would apply for so-called "banning orders" to prevent them travelling when future England football matches take place.

Many involved in the violence have already been widely condemned -- as well as named and pictured -- in the British press, but those arriving at Heathrow complained they had been treated unfairly.

John Jackson, a 22-year-old from Newcastle, northeast England, offered to show reporters injury marks on his back.

"It's a disgrace. I was beaten up and spat on by the police," he said, adding that the police were "picking on innocent people".

Nonetheless, British police and politicians have heaped praise on Portuguese authorities for dealing with the trouble and its perpetrators swiftly and decisively.

"These are not football fans that have been arrested, they are just thugs," British sports minister Richard Caborn told BBC radio on Thursday.

One supporter not on the flight was a 47-year-old British fireman jailed for two years by a court in Albufeira on Wednesday after he was found guilty of taking part in a street battle with police.

Gary Mann, a tattooed Birmingham City fan from the south coast town of Faversham, will be deported later to serve the sentence in England.