Pwoppa Nortee

While the world and his brother are queuing up to tell West Ham and Millwall fans that "There's no place for this sort of thing in football," there are other people rubbing their hands with glee.

The 'Danny Dyer effect' must have influenced some of the youth who were out and about near the Boleyn on Tuesday night. There's money in them there fists you see.

For those of you who are unaware, Dyer presents a television series entitled The Real Football Factories, which glorify the exploits of the 'pwoppa nortee' firms around the world.

Dyer strolls up, all professional cockney, draws on his fag, squints through the smoke and asks fawning questions of meat heads standing in damp railway arches or near to their favourite drinking hole. He then revels in the fact that they can organise a punch up with other meat heads.

A quick trawl of the net will reveal DVD's and books that are required viewing and reading of 14 year olds everywhere. Kerr ching!

On Tuesday night, there were men running around being dullards, in ill fitting shorts, who were way too old to be behaving this way. The late summer evening, mixed with alcohol and a chance to knock the hated rivals from their youth into submission, must have been a good enough reason to miss an evening in front of the telly and reading the kids a story.

Have you heard of Nick Love?

He must be thanking his lucky stars.

Nick Love is a film maker.

I really, really like his work.

He made an absolutely fantastic film called The Business which featured his mate Danny Dyer,(him again), as the lead.

He also made Outlaw, Goodbye Charlie Bright and the hoolie porn flick, The Football Factory.

All of Nick Love's films trade heavily on the right 'look' of the characters. The Business was set in the mid 80's and the casual clothing from the era is spot on.

In 1988, Alan Clarke, (not the old Leeds United 'Sniffer'), made a film to be broadcast on television called The Firm.

It's based on a character called Bex, played by Gary Oldman, who is a regular guy with a good job, wife and kid but he just happens to be the leader of a hooligan firm, pretty obviously based on West Ham's I.C.F.

His nemesis is Yeti, leader of a 'South London firm' pretty obviously a Millwall one -(though in one of the scenes the outside of Selhurst Park is seen while a game is being played.)

The film doesn't pull it's punches, shows how the characters revel in the violence but also shows the appalling injuries received.

'Phil Mitchel' from Eastenders plays a part, (he keeps staring at the camera), and so does the bloke who played Jim McDonald in Coronation Street.

Nick Love has been filming a remake of The Firm and it is due to be released on the 18th September.

It's set a little earlier than the original, 1984, and is dripping with 'casual'.

I'm really looking forward to it.

The clothes look fantastic and the period details look able to satisfy the heaviest anorak.

Check out the website here, which plays all the correct music from the period and also gives you a chance to play PacMan.

The trailer is good too.

I remember dressing like that, we looked like an army of taller Ronnie Corbetts.

Nick Love must be wetting his pants at all the free publicity his new film will no doubt be getting soon.

He makes no effort to hide the fact it's Millwall and West Ham firms in his story.

Less than a month before the film opens, to have street violence between the 'correct' groups must have been the most flukiest of flukes!

Just for the record, I can enjoy a James Bond film but I don't then go off murdering East Europeans!

I'm really looking forward to the new version of The Firm and I'm pretty sure I'm not going to suddenly start jumping on away supporters as they exit Charlton station!

I'd much rather share a beer with the opposition fans.