There is still the odd occasion when you can roll up at a football ground and are left to wonder if you have been transported back to the dark days of the 1970s or early 1980s, when hooliganism was rife.

It is usually a cup-tie, with a lower-division club playing host to one of the Premier League’s elite. It is the kind of day that is meant to evoke the romance of cup competition, illuminating the lives of the townsfolk, but the atmosphere around the ground changes as a vast, boisterous army of away fans emerges, surrounded by a formidable police presence, and the mood darkens from one of anticipation into one more akin to the arrival of the Visigoths.

The Carling Cup fourth-round tie between Barnsley and Manchester United at Oakwell on Tuesday evening, was, with the benefit of hindsight, just the sort of occasion when fear and antagonism fill the air. It had many of the ingredients: a heavy police presence, a 6,000-strong away following in a crowd of just under 23,000 and, according to one United supporter, the presence of “50 or so idiots”, who view such matches as a rare opportunity to get tickets and to recreate at least a semblance of the hooliganism that they missed out on in previous decades.

It is not the kind of incident that the Carling Cup needed so soon after the riot at the second-round tie between West Ham United and Millwall, but, as well as being accessible to young supporters — not to mention young players — the competition is, by virtue of low ticket prices and a reduced uptake from the more established support, accessible to troublemakers, potential or known. In the case of the games at Upton Park and Oakwell, the potential for violence was obvious to those present.

There are reasons why United’s explosive game against Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday, which featured two red cards, passed off peacefully and the low-key match at Barnsley two nights later ended with seven arrests (not all of them away fans, it should be pointed out). Ask United supporters for their “lairiest” experiences in recent years and, with the exception of Champions League matches away to Roma and Lille, they hark back to cup-ties away to Derby County, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Southampton and now Barnsley. And they will also say it was a great atmosphere at all of them.

Forget the myth of the “prawn sandwich brigade”. Home Office figures for the 2007-08 season state that United had 248 supporters arrested at domestic league and cup matches — and, with the club proud of the low number of arrests at Old Trafford, home to by far the biggest crowds in British club football, it stands to reason that the majority were on away territory. The next highest was Leeds United (156), followed by Chelsea (106) and Arsenal (105). Even the notorious fans of Cardiff City (90) and Millwall (78) cannot begin to compare.

United fans behave differently on away grounds. If they are to be judged only on the noise they make, there is no better group of away supporters in England. But police forces prefer to judge them on their persistent standing and, presumably, by whatever antisocial behaviour, trivial though it might be by 1970s and 1980s standards, leads to the arrests.

Then there is the content of the chants. Much of it is the kind of original terrace humour that has all but vanished elsewhere and should be applauded, but their continuing obsession with the Heysel and Hillsborough disasters does them no credit. Far less offensive are their persistent chants against the England team, but the police at Oakwell reacted hysterically by trying to confiscate a banner that stated “United>England”.

The hostile nature of the policing, which include herding them to a “compound” nearby before the match, has been cited by many United supporters as a factor in the atmosphere at Barnsley. The question is whether the heavy police presence serves to minimise disturbances or to inflame an air of antagonism. However, when catering staff are being terrorised and missiles being thrown, no relaxation is likely.

The price is right?

In a sign of the Carling Cup’s lesser appeal to fans, to fill their stadiums, all three Premier League clubs in action yesterday made tickets available on general sale with significant reductions compared to their usual matchday prices.

Chelsea:

Carling Cup: £19.50

Premier League: £34-64

Arsenal:

Carling Cup: £10-£20

Premier League: £32.50-£92 Manchester City

Carling Cup: £15-20

Premier League: £28-£46

Based on adult ticket prices

Explore Football

• Premier League

• Football League

• Scotland

• European Football

• International Football

• TheGame

• Live Match Tracker

• The Fink Tank

• Fantasy Football