Scottish football is not facing a hooligan crisis but Police Scotland say they are concerned about a "very small minority" infiltrating the game with pre-organised violence.

Assistant chief constable Bernard Higgins told STV he believes hooliganism associated with matches is becoming more visible but says incidents are caused by non-football fans affiliating themselves with clubs.

Police believe small groups of troublemakers have affiliated themselves with 25 of the country's senior clubs, with intelligence suggesting a further three are at risk.

Mr Higgins said: "There’s a small minority of people who want to pre-organise violence, they want to pre-organise disorder and they use football as a platform for that.

"They attach themselves to a club. They are not supporters of the club but they use the club badge as a reason to hook up with other like-minded individuals that want to engage in pre-ordered violence.

"The bottom line is let’s not glorify these individuals. They are thugs. They are criminals. They are not football fans. Football doesn't want them. And we don’t want them there spoiling the enjoyment of other people.

"I wouldn't say we have firms of hundreds of casuals. That would be a gross exaggeration. But out of the 25 clubs, we have some clubs that have more than one risk group associated with them.

"We have some clubs where it is only one or two individuals. But the point is: they are not there to watch the football.

"I think it is becoming more and more visible. I've been involved in policing football for over 27 years and there has always been a hooligan element. But what I've seen in the last couple of years is a resurgence of hooligans within certain clubs.

"But I do want to put this into perspective. We have over 980 games a season, attended by over four million spectators. The vast, vast majority of those games are police-free and pass without any incident at all. They are extremely safe."

A total of 579 banning orders have been issued over the last 10 years following incidents related to those attending Scottish football matches.

By means of comparison, almost 40 million people have attended senior matches over that time period.

The claims by Police Scotland come against a backdrop of heightened tensions between some fan groups and the authorities, with the Offensive Behaviour at Football Act accused of being used to wrongly criminalise supporters.

Mr Higgins said: "I am not persecuting football fans at all. I am persecuting criminals who want to make football an unsafe place for those genuine fans that want to go with their family and enjoy the nation’s favourite sport.

"We’re not talking about fans’ associations here, or fan groups, please be very clear about that. Or supporters' associations. We are talking about groups of individuals we know act collectively, and they act in a manner which brings violence to the streets, or they act in a disorderly manner.

"A lot of the fans' associations don’t want these groups and these individuals associated with their club because it brings their club into disrepute.

"I don’t want this message to be diluted or misinterpreted. Football is a really safe place to go and take your family and enjoy a game on a Saturday afternoon, or a Friday evening, or whenever it is.

"What I am saying is there is a very small minority of individuals intent on causing disruption and violence at some games. And because of their actions, they have a disproportionate impact on the safety of other people at the games and actually the enjoyment of the games. That’s what I am saying.

"The message has got to be clear: football is in a good state in terms of its safety and in terms of the responsibility involved everyone takes with it."

Police Scotland said there have been a number of pre-arranged incidents happening several miles away from grounds and several hours before games take place.

"There was one instance where at half-time, a selection of supporters from two opposing teams left the stadium to go and fight in a nearby car park," he said.

"But we were aware and we were alive to that and we dealt with it. There was another occasion a group of fans turned up at an opposing team’s favourite pub two and a half hours before the game and attacked the people within the pub."

Pressed on whether or not such events can truly be described as football-related incidents, Mr Higgins replied: "The reason they were in that town at that particular time was because the team that they followed were playing that team. So of course it is related to football. But I've got to really emphasise this point. Football is really safe.

"It is unrecognisable from when I joined the police (in 1988). We've got better stadia, we've got accredited stewards, and we've got football clubs and authorities that take the safety of people attending games as their utmost priority. We've got robust intelligence-led police plans.

"So the vast, vast, vast majority of those 980-odd matches pass without any incident. They are safe, they are enjoyable. People come and enjoy the football and they go home safely."