It would have been quite entertaining to see Chelsea's millionaire footballers toiling against lesser artisans in the Inter-Two-Bob Cup but, alas, their FA Cup victory means they will go straight into the UEFA Cup.

Chelsea's Champions League campaign this season is seen by some as a disappointment, because, although the players treated it much more seriously than they did annoying little things like league games at Watford, it spluttered to a halt in the quarter-finals.

The reality is, however, that it was a spellbinding adventure, and not just because it really wasn't long ago that the extent of Chelsea's European ambition was a run in the old Anglo-Scottish Cup.

Chelsea's Champions League sortie was spectacular because at none of the games they played in did their fans cause any significant crowd trouble or hooliganism. And, don't forget, they played two games against Galatasaray.

There was a time when the very thought of Chelsea fans travelling anywhere would have been enough for a state of emergency to be declared. Warning lights and sirens would go off at the Foreign Office and Interpol.

But the class of 1999-2000 seem a docile bunch. They even applauded Aston Villa after beating them on Saturday, and, in Europe this season, they went about their lawful business without causing much in the way of carnage or mayhem.

Ditto Tottenham fans. They had an appalling and deserved reputation in the Seventies and Eighties and, on more than one occasion, marked the UEFA Cup by bashing up as many foreigners as they could find.

This time, although their UEFA Cup campaign was not long enough to provide much of a test for European police, it still passed without incident.

The same goes for West Ham, Manchester United and Newcastle. Lots of European games at home and abroad. No trouble worth reporting.

Even Leeds, who, as anyone who goes to football regularly will tell you, have some of the most repellent supporters ever to tool-up, managed to get to the last four of the UEFA Cup before they encountered any trouble.

Against Galatasaray, it all kicked off, of course. Two Leeds fans were murdered. But without demonising Turkish supporters, it does seem that the trouble in Istanbul was almost entirely of their making.

Yet now, because of the involvement of Arsenal fans in fighting in Copenhagen last week in the Final against Galatasaray, a wave of unbelievable hysteria has engulfed us.

The difficulty for those of us who would like to move the debate about hooliganism on to a more sensible level is that we seem to be excusing or condoning the fighting in Copenhagen.

We don't want to do either. But if the ugly skirmishes are to be used to start a discussion about thuggery, then shouldn't the exemplary behaviour by Arsenal fans all season until the Final be part of the discussion as well?

Just like Chelsea, Spurs, West Ham, Man U and Newcastle, Arsenal took their fans abroad all season and, before the Final, witnessed no trouble worth reporting.

Alas, that sort of rational, reasoned argument is swept aside by the tide of junk journalism which is always caused by football hooliganism.

You have only to see TV pictures of one yobbo kicking another for the knee-jerk gibberish to spew forth.

'They're not real football fans. They only go there for a fight. If we stage the World Cup, there will be blood in the gutters.'

Balderdash. All the people I know who travel to watch their teams abroad are ordinary people from and with ordinary families. They care passionately about football.

They don't spend two weeks' wages, take three days off work and travel halfway across Europe looking for a fight. If they wanted to find a fight, they only need to go to the West End or to any provincial town on a Friday or Saturday night.

English fans do behave badly abroad regularly. But then English people behave badly abroad. Have you ever watched Ibiza Uncovered?

In this country football hooliganism is under control. It hasn't gone away, but it's under control. That may be thanks largely to closed-circuit television, but it's still true and it means that more and more women and young children are attending games in complete confidence and absolute safety.

Some of the hacks who are writing the current codswallop ought to get out of the press boxes and sit in the stands with all the young kids and see how enjoyable and invigorating watching football in England can be.

And as for the lunatic notion of scrapping our World Cup bid because of the Copenhagen bovver, well, it defies belief.

Should Germany stage the World Cup? German fans left a policeman brain-damaged during the last World Cup and, in case you haven't noticed, Germany has right-wing groups which make our own Combat 18 look like Greenpeace.

Should South Africa stage the World Cup? That is the rape capital of the world.

No, we should stage it. Because we'd do it well, and there would be little or no trouble. Euro 96 was a fabulous festival. There was a lot of aggro in Trafalgar Square when England went out, but that should be considered in the context of the rest of the trouble-free month.

Just as the scenes in Copenhagen should be considered in the context of the unblemished record of all the other English clubs who played abroad this season.