Norwich City will lodge a formal complaint with Suffolk police over the 'disappointing' treatment of fans at the East Anglian derby.

The club's chief executive David McNally confirmed the club would make official representations to the force following complaints from supporters groups.

Speaking on social networking website Twitter, he said: 'Really disappointed with the police treatment of our fans on Thursday night. We will be lodging an official complaint.'

The response comes after the Norwich City Independent Supporters Association (NCISA) wrote requesting that the club support complaints to the police following what many perceive as unfair and potentially dangerous treatment before and after the match at Portman Road, Ipswich, on Thursday.

The 5-1 Canaries victory was marred by reports of trouble after City fans were delayed from getting into the ground by Ipswich fans blocking their way in.

Last night NCISA spokesman Rob Sainty said the association was grateful for the club's support and praised Mr McNally's intervention.

After the match Insp Matthew Rose, from Suffolk police, said that despite making 19 arrests, the operation to police disorder had been an 'absolute success'.

Mr Sainty praised Ipswich stewards saying they had been 'excellent' but added: 'Our fans deserve huge credit for their patience and forbearance, but this could easily have been a disaster.

'For Insp Rose to appear in the media proclaiming the success of the operation really sticks in the craw. '

He added: 'I am very pleased that the club has decided to intervene in this way and hope Suffolk police take the complaint seriously.

'We have received a number of submissions regarding the police operation on Thursday from both City and Ipswich supporters.

'Having myself been hit on the head by a full pint glass thrown in full view of two policemen who did nothing, I'm not ashamed to say that, for the first time in 20 years I felt vulnerable at a football match.

'The fiasco before the game when our fans were herded into a position where they were in such close proximity to Ipswich fans and then told that the kick off had been delayed on police orders until they had got into the ground - even though fans could hear the match kicking off - was bad enough.

'However, the multi-stage 30 minute march to the station afterwards was worse, as it was so obvious that the police had no coherent plan to get our fans safely onto the train.

'Even when we did get there the police blockaded a narrow entrance while continuing to herd fans into a confined space where a very real danger of crushing was brought into play, particularly as there were children involved.'

A Suffolk police spokesman said: 'We have yet to receive any formal correspondence regarding the handling of our policing operation of the match. We believe our plans worked well, especially when the public transport delays which did lead to the flare-ups are taken into consideration.

'There were isolated incidents of disorder, mainly caused by the Ipswich fans, and naturally we will focus on these to ensure disruption of a similar nature does not occur on future match days. As ever, we will respond to those who wish to submit any formal comments or complaints about our actions.'

Seven men have been charged with threatening behaviour after being arrested at the match. The individuals – all from Ipswich – were taken into custody by police monitoring proceedings at Portman Road and seven of them will appear at South East Suffolk Magistrates' Court in Ipswich on May 4 and 9. They are aged from 18 to 49.

In addition to these charges, a 24-year-old has been released on bail while police make further investigations and a 29-year-old has been cautioned. Both men are from Ipswich. One man from Norwich was also charged with possession of class A drugs after being arrested at the match. The 32-year-old was also held at Ipswich Police Station.

As well as making 19 arrests, police were forced to eject 13 supporters from the stadium.