Welcome to this week's News Shopper Friday sport opinion column. Read our rant and join the debate by adding your comments.

FOOTBALL hooliganism is firmly back on the news agenda after disgraceful scenes at Hillsborough and Kenilworth Road.

Crystal Palace player Clint Hill had several punches thrown at him by disgruntled Sheffield Wednesday fans after the Eagles sent the Owls down on Sunday.

But there was worse to come the following day when York City’s players had to run into the away stand following their Conference play-off victory at Luton where they were pelted with coins by an angry mob of Hatters supporters.

York’s players ran the gauntlet of missiles before seeking refuge in a room next to the stand where they were forced to stay until police and stewards had finally dispersed the home supporters.

Kenilworth Road played host to one of the most serious outbreaks of violence in 1985 when Millwall fans went on the rampage, so it was depressing to note the ground was again in the headlines for all the wrong reasons a quarter of a century later.

It makes you ask what has really changed during the last 25 years?

The League Cup clash between West Ham and Millwall earlier this season was overshadowed by serious trouble, virtually all of it caused by Hammers supporters.

What was most depressing about that night was seeing so many men in their late 40s and early 50s invading the pitch.

You would expect these born losers to know better but clearly not.

It is hard to believe most of these people are capable of reading or writing but the situation is hardly helped by the number of books published by former thugs in the last decade keen to cash in by recalling their earlier careers as football thugs.

Then there are the films and television documentaries which glorify it.

Football Factory was released in 2004 and starred Danny Dyer.

I’ve never seen it and have no intention of doing so, but I have watched some of Dyer’s subsequent television programmes on the subject and they are laughable.

The West Ham fan travels this country and the world meeting some of the ‘top boys’ as he refers to them where they wax lyrical about their ‘exploits’ on the terraces.

It doesn’t help that Dyer plays up to the role he seemingly portrayed in the film by acting, talking and even walking like some wannabe hooligan when he clearly isn’t one.

I’ve interviewed him before when he was briefly appointed chairman of Greenwich Borough FC by his best friend and fellow actor Tamer Hassan.

News Shopper: Danny Dyer (left) is expected to take to the field against a former Charlton XI

I actually quite liked Dyer and thought he was both witty and smart, so why he sees the need to play this caricature of his Football Factory character is beyond me.

Perhaps it is time to just ban all shows, films and books which sentimentalise football violence because I could easily believe the Wednesday and Luton fans involved in this week’s incidents are thinking about penning their memoirs already.

This column in no way reflects the official position of News Shopper or its parent company.

What do you think? Are you worried about the recent outbreak of football hooliganism or are these just isolated incidents? Do films and TV glorify football violence? Add your comments below.

Check News Shopper's website every lunchtime for a new daily opinion column. Monday is back to the Shopper Rant on a topical news story. Tuesday is entertainment day. Wednesday is a reader's rant, and Thursday will cover a moral issue. Be sure to have your say if you agree or disagree with what you read.