ON THIS DAY

Liverpool signed Senegalese striker El Hadji Diouf from French side Lens in June 2002 for around £10m - and in those days £10m was a decent amount to pay for a player! But Diouf proved to be a very poor signing playing just 55 Premier League games for the Reds in 2002/03 and 2003/04 and scoring just three goals in those matches – two of those coming in his first game at Anfield! The lowest point of his Liverpool career came on this day in 2003 in a UEFA Cup quarter-final at Celtic in an off the field incident, literally just off the field! In the closing minutes of the game Diouf collided with the advertising boards and almost landed in a group of Celtic fans. They said they good-homouredly ruffled his hair and patted him on the back, Diouf said one hit him. But there is no doubt about what Diouf did – he spat at the Celtic supporters which caused inevitable outrage amongst the Scots fans. Diouf was substituted and escorted to the changing rooms by the police. He was later fined two weeks wages by Liverpool – the club then donated £60,000 to a Celtic approved charity – and he ended up in Glasgow Sheriff Court where he was fined £5000. He also received a two-match UEFA ban. The match at Celtic ended in a 1-1 draw but the Scots won the ‘Battle of Britain’ tie with a 2-0 victory at Anfield in the second leg a week later. Celtic went on to reach the final where they were beaten by Porto. 14 th March

Hooliganism was a serious problem in the 1980s with one of the most notorious outbreaks being at the Luton v Millwall FA Cup quarter final at Kenilworth Road on Wednesday 13th March 1985. Basically it was a riot, both at the match and in the town before and after the cup tie. Millwall fans invaded the pitch, the match was held up for 25 minutes, some 700 seats were ripped out and used as missiles, there were police baton charges and over 80 people were injured, many of them police. Thirty-one people were in court the next day with many being 'fans' of clubs other than Luton and Millwall. The consequences were major, and not just to the reputation of football. Luton were to ban away supporters which led to them being kicked out of the League Cup in 1985/86. They also became the second League club to convert to an all-seater stadium and fencing in the fans was starting to be discussed. Oh, Luton won the match 1-0!