When trouble was on the menu...

Take that: Alan Smith throws a bottle into the crowd
Metro14 April 2012

Following Sunday's explosive game between Manchester United and Arsenal, it has emerged victorious boss Sir Alex Ferguson became the target of a disgruntled Gunners player. According to reports, the Manchester United boss was bombarded with a variety of foodstuffs, including soup, pizza and sandwiches.

Here, we look at those within the game who have suffered the indignity of becoming the target of food missiles.

  • In the 1970s and 80s John Barnes, and many other black footballers, were the subject of constant racist abuse which saw bananas thrown on the pitch.
  • Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Corrigan was felled by a bottle thrown at his head at Anfield in the late 1970s.
  • In 1996, Grimsby Town manager Brian Laws was so frustrated by his team's 3-2 defeat by Luton he threw a plate of chicken sandwiches at star player Ivano Bonetti, breaking the player's cheekbone. Both left the club shortly afterwards.
  • The Socceroos once bore the brunt of Hungarian anger when fans lobbed fish at them during a friendly game in 2000 in protest against a part-Australian owned mine which allegedly leaked cyanide into local rivers. Fans also held up signs accusing keeper Mark Bosnich and the rest of the team of being 'fish murderers'.
  • The then Sunderland manager Peter Reid was drenched by a can of beer following a pre-season friendly defeat in the summer of 2002 in Belgium. He became the first managerial casualty of the Premiership season when he left the Stadium of Light that October.
  • At West Ham, Don Hutchison became the focus of then boss Harry Redknapp's anger after a miserable performance at Southampton and had a plate of sandwiches thrown over his head.
  • Portuguese star Luis Figo has been the object of abuse whenever he has returned to Barcelona with their hated rivals Real Madrid after his £37million transfer in 2000. In 2002, he was attempting to take a corner when missiles rained down from the stands - including a piglet's head.
  • Last year was the chance for the players to hit back when Alan Smith, then with Leeds, threw a plastic bottle into a stand at Elland Road where it hit a woman.

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