Too often a push-and-shove on the terraces – even some over-exuberant singing and chanting – is reported as if the barbarian hordes are at the gates, ready to bring down civilisation. On so many occasions in the past, what has breathlessly been depicted as a major battle has resulted in few, if any arrests. By contrast, clashes at AFL games and mass ejections at the cricket tend to be glossed over. Hence my throwaway tweet about having to love the Aussie media for making a mountain out of a molehill. Talk about lighting the blue touchpaper. In short order, a feverish debate ensued, with plenty slagging me off for condoning violence.

Of course I don't condone violence, and when I saw footage of a clash between two sets of fans in the CBD outside the Royal Melbourne Hotel in Bourke Street, I have to admit that it didn't look great. Police have already laid charges and more may follow as they survey CCTV footage as football once again attracts headlines of the wrong sort. On this occasion, it looks like I got it wrong, so I have to admit it and cop the flak. But I still think the general point about over-sensational reporting of crowd disturbances at games down the decades holds true, even if Saturday's events in Melbourne's CBD and, subsequently at AAMI Park, would suggest otherwise. Westen Sydney fans have been celebrated for their noise, colour and passion since the club came into the league at the beginning of the 2012-2013 season.

The Red and Black Bloc are a loud, raucous bunch who bring a fantastic atmosphere and give their team a great emotional charge, particularly when playing at home. But, following Saturday night's ugly scenes, the group finds itself in the dock charged with causing trouble inside and outside AAMI Park, where some let off flares and fireworks that sounded like explosions during the game. Melbourne Victory have now made an official protest to FFA about the behaviour of the visiting fans, mindful of the fact that the Wanderers are due back in town for a midweek game on January 14. The Wanderers duly returned fire, releasing a statement pointing to the Victory's own troubles with its supporter group. Both statements will no doubt raise the temperature early in the new year and are certain to ensure a heavy police presence at AAMI Park and in the city centre for the midweek fixture. Having lived in Australia for over 25 years and covered the game for some 15, I am often bemused by the local reaction to the way football crowds behave.

People love to talk about the great atmosphere, the singing, chanting, theatre and drama that fans of clubs like Victory and the Wanderers bring. They fail, or don't want to acknowledge, that the atmosphere at these grounds is often so vibrant because there is an edge to the way the active supporters (and it is this minority that create the bulk of the atmosphere) approach the whole experience. Football's fan culture is different to the longer established Australian codes, rugby league and union and Australian rules. It is based on chanting and taunting and delivering insults - often quite witty - to away teams and players. Football, like other sports, encourages families and wants to hook youngsters. But the reality is that few grounds here or overseas, are kindergartens - and parents taking really young kids need to realise that.

The wider problems arise when a small minority - and it is always a minority - want to take things further and "go to war" in what they imagine is a defence of the honour of their club. Modelling themselves on the Ultras (Europe) and Barra Bravas (Latin America), these young men have the misplaced idea that causing a disturbance on "foreign turf" (an interstate city centre) somehow enhances their status and strikes a blow for their team. The reality, of course, is that all they do is cause problems for their club and the game in general as they provide lurid footage and the chance for the media to use emotive language evoking a war zone to describe what is often a minor skirmish. I don't approve of it, but I do understand the impulse to make a show of misguided strength: I was a young man myself who occasionally got caught up trouble spots with mates in my teenage years in London in the 1970s. While many won't approve or even understand, I know that there can be a great sense of cameraderie, especially when its alcohol fuelled, and a huge emotional buzz from the one-for-all, all-for-one feeling that such situations can generate.

The vast majority of us grow up and grow out of it and become respectable citizens, but the game sustains the damage. The fact that groups of fans can feel such an emotional connection with their club is great, but if they really are Wanderers or Victory till they die they should realise that causing large scale disturbances, letting flares off and giving those who want to kick the game the chance to do so is simply scoring an own goal. Loading And the best way to really prove yourself is not to fight in an all-in ruck but to get into a boxing ring, where you have to go head to head with another person armed with nothing but your courage, reflexes, strength and skill. I tried that, too, but that's another story ...