Exclusive: Police warn football violence on way back with rise of young yobs

More: On the streets with the new generation of foothall yob

Inspector Dave Hall, head of public order training and policy for North Yorkshire Police, says the trouble is the most widespread it has been in the region for the past five years, with the new breed of hooligans, often as young as 14, desperately trying to mirror the brutality of their predecessors.

Insp Hall, who has been in the force for 21 years and witnessed some of the worst football violence ever encountered in Yorkshire, says the recession is also helping fuel the rise of young yobs – often the children of former hooligans – who are targeting lower league clubs which are less heavily policed.

His comments echo a report from the Association of Chief Police Officers last month showing incidents of football hooliganism involving youths aged between 13 and 18 trebled last season compared with the previous year.

"There has been a resurgence", he said, "I can't really put my finger on it, but it is becoming fashionable again. There has been a whole raft of films out glamourising hooliganism and saying it is cool to be part of the gang.

"The financial situation is an issue, this part of the world has been hit harder than the South and people obviously get frustrated.

"The fact that they are young means there is an element of unpredictability. We are not policing outside games as much as we used to and these groups are starting to really test that. Our resources have been put more to the test this season than any other since I have been in North Yorkshire."

In the past year alone there have been several shocking incidents in the region, including violence by Hull fans in York in July which led to an area of the city being cordoned off by police before the two sides met for a pre-season friendly.