Tom Hicks Jnr forced from Liverpool pub by angry fans

Tom Hicks Jnr rounded on by angry Liverpool fans

In what was either a naive bridge building exercise or a crass ignorance of local feeling, Tom Hicks Jnr visited the Sandon pub in Liverpool after the Middlesbrough game, and was shortly after forced to leave as an angry mob formed. The Sandon public house is where Liverpool's hard-core support congregates before and after games, and is the birthplace of the football club.

Hicks claimed he wanted to have some direct talks with Liverpool fans and that was certainly what he got. As the news spread around the pub, the atmosphere got worse and eventually his bodyguards rushed him from the pub into a waiting people carrier. As he left he was swilled with lager and spat on by angry fans.

Speaking to the local paper the Liverpool Echo, he said: "I went to Sandon with some friends because I have wanted to go for quite some time to see the birthplace of the club.I also wanted the opportunity to have a direct talk with some of the supporters. I respect that some patrons have major disagreement with us, but that comes with the territory. I did have several constructive conversations in my short visit and look forward to following up with them next time I am in Liverpool."

This nasty episode will have left the Hicks family in no doubt as to the feeling of Liverpool's fans, and how far they have to go to win them over.