The spectre of hooliganism has haunted English participation in football tournaments for over 20 years. Mark Summers talks to the man who has to make this year's event trouble-free.

IF England fans do live up to their stereotypical booze-fuelled hooligan image during the World Cup in Japan, they could find themselves in the sights of the Spiderman gun. This crowd control device fires - in the manner of the comic super hero after which it is named - a reinforced nylon net that can ensnare two or three people at a distance of about five metres.

"It is a bit like casting a fishing net. Anyone caught in it will not be able to get out," says a Japanese police spokesman.

A water canon that politely announces in six different languages that anyone in its path will get a high-pressure drenching is another weapon in the armoury the Japanese are assembling in fear of mayhem erupting on their streets.

Though the possibility of a terrorist attack is high on the security agenda in Japan and South Korea, the threat posed by European football hooliganism is a major worry, not least for ordinary people. For example, shopkeepers near the stadium that will host the England game with Nigeria on June 12 have taken out an insurance policy that will pay out if their premises are damaged in soccer-related disorder.

The English brand of yobbery seems to be a particular concern - this is a country with a very different culture, in which football fans will queue, quiet and orderly, for over an hour to be admitted through stadium turnstiles. But the senior policeman who flies out this weekend to help ensure everything goes as smoothly as it can, believes the menace has been over-played.

Ron Hogg, Assistant Chief Constable of Durham Police, is the head of the specialist unit that is advising local police on tactics and keeping an eye out for known trouble-makers.

During his time with the neighbouring Northumbria force he was in charge of policing Newcastle United matches at St James' Park and has been the man at the helm for England away matches since the Euro 2000 tournament in Holland and Belgium. He says: "It is my opinion - and I speak as a Scotsman - that England fans don't deserve the reputation that they have - although I'm not saying we don't have a problem and can rest on our laurels."

As many as 8,000 supporters are expected to make the long and expensive journey to the Far East, and TV news crews will already be primed to find and film groups of shaven-headed, tattooed men with huge beer bellies chanting nationalistic or racist anthems, lager bottles in hand.

It's an unappealing and, to some, frightening image, one that is bound to be beamed into our homes. But Mr Hogg believes it gives a distorted view of the reality of England away. He points out that, since Euro 2000, only 220 England fans have been arrested, only one of them for a serious offence: throwing a bottle at a waiter in Greece.

In Euro 2000, hundreds of England fans were seized by riot police during disturbances in Charleroi amid scenes that made big headlines. Most were arrested for minor offences. But there was criticism of the Belgian police tactics and their use of administrative arrest which allows anyone in a particular area to be detained, troublemaker or not. There were fewer problems in Holland where the police operated differently.

Banning orders obtained under the Football Disorder Act will stop 1,009 hooligans from all over the country, including the North-East, travelling to the World Cup, compared to 100 for Euro 2000. Intelligence profiles on a further 349 yobs have been sent to the Japanese who have said that 197 will be refused entry and a further 152 will be subjected to immigration checks.

Everyone buying tickets through the Football Association or FIFA - the game's world governing body - has undergone police record checks.

Mr Hogg and his "substantial" team of officers have been liaising with their Japanese colleagues about the nature of the hooligan problem and, during the competition, will advise them on tactics and pass on intelligence gathered by spotters about known trouble-makers.

"We have advised them - and they are keen to take it on board - that where there are large numbers of fans in a particular area, it requires uniformed police officers moving in to provide reassurance in a non-confrontational manner," he says. "England fans don't go looking for trouble. They will take over areas and bars, declare them little England, and are happy to drink themselves into oblivion."

Mr Hogg admits that some fans "are not the most pleasant of individuals" but says that only a minority are hell-bent on provoking confrontation.

"When you have 8,000 people out there they will group together and drink. There will be some disorder, no doubt about that, but hopefully it will be small-scale and will be contained. I'm not saying we are going to be having tea and scones every afternoon, but I believe we have done more than ever to prevent disorder in Japan. The Scottish fans traditionally had a dreadful reputation but they managed to turn that round. Hopefully, we can do that with England. The majority of fans are decent people."

Mr Hogg, and his deputy, Superintendent Graham Stafford, of Northumbria Police, believe the measures taken so far, the expense of travelling to the competition and the expertise of his team, should reduce much of the hooligan risk.

Equally, he sees its role as ensuring decent England fans are treated fairly and are not automatically tarred with the hooligan brush.

"The important time for me will be the first weekend. If we can get through that without serious incident, I'm sure the Japanese police will be more confident and have faith that what we have told them is correct. They have a range of apparatus available to them, from nets to water canon. We hope that we don't see that kind of equipment deployed over there."