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The fighting kicked-off as soon as the game did.

Just moments after referee Neil Midgley blew his whistle to get the Manchester derby underway, around 1,000 fans began to spill onto the pitch desperate to escape the violence. Play was held up for eight minutes as rival City and United hooligans 'fought like dogs'.

It was one of the worst outbreaks of football violence Manchester had seen in years. And it led police to launch an ultimately doomed crackdown on the hooliganism that was blighting the national game.

September 23, 1989, should have been day of celebration . After languishing in the second division, Manchester City were back in the top flight and welcoming their cross-city rivals to Maine Road for the first time in three years.

United were about to embar

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