Danny Dyer explains why Marching Powder is not a Football Factory sequel

But despite that connective tissue, Marching Powder is not – as has occasionally been suggested – a sequel to the earlier film. In fact, this is something Dyer was especially keen to point out during an exclusive interview with RadioTimes.com prior to the film's opening.

"There is a huge difference between Football Factory and this movie," he explained. "We're having a nod to it, but we certainly don't want to make the same film.

"So there's a lot of like, 'Oh this is the sequel' and all this sort of stuff. It's not, it's a much more grown up, clever film. This is a love story, essentially, and a man that inhabits this culture, this world, is stuck in a bit of a rut. [And it's] a lot to do with addiction as well."

Asked about whether football hooligan culture – and perceptions of it – have changed in the days since he starred in Football Factory and subsequently made the documentary series Real Football Factories, Dyer responded that he thinks "our society has changed completely".

He said: "We're in a weird space at the moment. Politically, there's a lot of division. All the love's gone, for some reason. There is a new generation coming through with this hooligan thing, for sure, but you find that they're teams that are really low down in the divisions that are sort of running around like little youngsters.

"Look this is quite ridiculous that world," he added. "But we're not sneering at it. It's important that you don't sneer at a culture, whatever that culture may be.

"It's always been for me, even when I went off and done the documentary about why do men do it... There's no answer to that. It's a minefield.

"It's certainly about... feeling like you belong to something, these lost young men that need something in their life, you know? So again, we're acknowledging it. We're certainly not sneering at it."

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Marching Powder follows Dyer's character Jack – a middle-aged man who is still hooked on the hooligan lifestyle – after he is arrested and given six weeks to turn his life and marriage around by a judge.

The former EastEnders star is joined in the cast for the film by Stephanie Leonidas and Calum MacNab – while there's also a role for his own son Arty.

Marching Powder is out now in UK cinemas.

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