He was also involved in a night of violence in Berlin during a England World Cup qualifying match with Poland and had emergency surgery after he was knifed in the stomach by one of the Germans. As officer in charge of the investigation, Detective Sergeant George Duff helped prove that the fight between the Seaburn Casuals and the Gremlins was pre-arranged. His task was made harder by its occurrence on a non-match day and the suspects' outright denial of their involvement. April 2003 - Arrested again before a match between Sunderland and Newcastle at the Stadium of Light. No charge brought. Dr Geoff Pearson, lecturer at the University of Liverpool's Football Research Unit, writes for the Chronicle. But now the game is up for the 40-year-old Toon-supporting thug after he was hit with a three-year stadium ban.

The majority of people involved in football violence are skilled working class, but then so are most of the people who go to football matches. By this time everyone was getting p***** off about another no-show by the Mags but we still decided that we would go into Shields and get it sorted once and for all. The police are aware of this because they looked into it but they haven’t charged her. He intends to take her to the civil courts.” Jameson, from Monkwearmouth, Wearside, led the Sunderland gang, and Russell, from Cullercoats, North Tyneside, led the Newcastle gang.

Legend

By the age of 12 Mennim was determined to get into the famous firm of the day, The Bender Squad, who were known to get drunk before matches then look for fights. And when trouble flared, Short was seen with his hood up, leading a group of Toon yobs towards the bus containing their opponents. Officers had to draw and hit out with batons to keep their opponents in the vehicle. The 54-year-old, who has a long history of football violence, even posted a photograph of her shopping in Jarrow town centre, which she was unaware had been taken. The court heard the messages were verbally abusive, with one reading: “You’re nothing but a w***e from the gutter.” I never got scared. You don’t think you are going to get killed,” he said. “You just get this amazing rush. It’s exciting.

Both Newcastle United and Sunderland are planning to investigate the fight, which left one man with brain damage. POLICE have staged a wave of raids on the homes of suspects linked to a planned dust-up between rival hooligan firms.Det Sgt George Duff, one of the Operation Crusade team, said: "A witness overheard one telephone conversation in the Porthole pub in which one of the accused said: `It's on'." Rival soccer thugs used this network of mobile phone calls and text messaging to rally support for a vicious fight on Tyneside.