Liverpool FC Steven Gerrard was in a "huff" before he attacked a man with a barrage of punches, a court heard on Wednesday.
Gerrard, 29, confronted Marcus McGee after he refused to give him control of a stereo at the Lounge Inn bar in Southport, Merseyside, last year.
The England midfielder was drinking in the early hours of December 29 with a throng of friends to celebrate his team’s 5-1 drubbing of Newcastle.
He downed bottles of Budweiser and a Jammy Donut shot.
Gerrard - who said he was seven out of 10 on a drunkenness scale - returned to confront businessman Mr. McGee and threw three punches at him, the player said.
On Wednesday, Liverpool Crown Court heard from barman Nathaniel Lockie who relived the attack and claimed Gerrard was in a "huff" after not getting his own way.
He said: "Gerrard grabbed the back of his jumper and pulled it over his head, pulled him down and started uppercutting him.
"While that happened I ran round to the other side of the bar trying to help and he (Gerrard) was dragged off into the restaurant."
Mr. McGee, 34, said when he refused to hand over control of the music Gerrard asked him: "Who the f*** do you think you are?"
He said of the attack several minutes later: "I remember a barrage of punches coming in at my face but I didn’t know who has done what.
"Having watched the CCTV it was obvious Steven Gerrard hit me a couple of times, maybe three times but I couldn’t honestly say on the night.
"I didn’t know who did what."
The first shot was actually thrown by Gerrard’s friend John Doran, 29, of Huyton, Liverpool.
He and four other men have admitted affray and threatening behaviour.
The victim said the millionaire midfielder tried to grab a card controlling the stereo from him.
"I didn’t give it to him, no," he said.
"It wasn’t my permission to be giving it out to somebody else, it was my job so I didn’t hand it over.
"He made a move to try to grab the card to take it away and I remember it slipped on the floor at one stage."
He denied punching back at Gerrard when they clashed violently.
But in a police interview read to court, Gerrard claimed it was the other way round.
The father-of-two said he had permission from manageress Sabrina Malik to pick some songs and Mr. McGee was arrogant and rude to him.
He told detectives: "He grabbed my music menu off me and said ’You are not f****** deciding what music goes on in here’."
He added: "When he grabbed it I said ’What’s your problem, why can’t I change it?’
"He basically said to me ’I am not putting your music on.’
"It was quite aggressive, and I said ’What’s the f****** problem, why can’t I put my music on?
"He said ’Because you f****** can’t, you’re not allowed.
"I said ’I have permission to do it’."
The seven women and five men of the jury heard that Gerrard felt upset and "gutted" about what happened.
The player told detectives Mr. McGee proceeded to stare at him through a gap in a partition wall.
Gerrard, married to model Alex Curran, wanted to sort the problem out so went back to discuss it with Mr. McGee, he said.
"I didn’t go over there intentionally to have another argument or start fighting," he said.
"I was having a good night but I was gutted and just wanted to straighten it out with him."
Gerrard said he believed Mr. McGee was going to attack him.
"He stood up quite aggressively out of his stool and I thought to myself ’I am not going to be able to sort this out in the way I wanted’," Gerrard said.
"I thought he was going to give me a smack.
"He was shouting back and I didn’t know what he was saying but he started arguing and I thought he was going to hit me so that’s why I threw a punch."
Mr. McGee lost a front tooth crown and suffered a cut face in the melee.
Gerrard’s police interviews end with his solicitor, Richard Green, saying the star was "deeply apologetic" about what happened.
"He understands his obligations and responsibilities and this is completely out of character and out of the blue," he said.
"He is extremely remorseful for what actually happened and certainly there wasn’t any intention for events to turn out that way."
The court heard that when arrested Gerrard was "totally co-operative" with police.
He is expected to go into the witness box on Thursday morning.
Gerrard, 29, confronted Marcus McGee after he refused to give him control of a stereo at the Lounge Inn bar in Southport, Merseyside, last year.
The England midfielder was drinking in the early hours of December 29 with a throng of friends to celebrate his team’s 5-1 drubbing of Newcastle.
He downed bottles of Budweiser and a Jammy Donut shot.
Gerrard - who said he was seven out of 10 on a drunkenness scale - returned to confront businessman Mr. McGee and threw three punches at him, the player said.
On Wednesday, Liverpool Crown Court heard from barman Nathaniel Lockie who relived the attack and claimed Gerrard was in a "huff" after not getting his own way.
He said: "Gerrard grabbed the back of his jumper and pulled it over his head, pulled him down and started uppercutting him.
"While that happened I ran round to the other side of the bar trying to help and he (Gerrard) was dragged off into the restaurant."
Mr. McGee, 34, said when he refused to hand over control of the music Gerrard asked him: "Who the f*** do you think you are?"
He said of the attack several minutes later: "I remember a barrage of punches coming in at my face but I didn’t know who has done what.
"Having watched the CCTV it was obvious Steven Gerrard hit me a couple of times, maybe three times but I couldn’t honestly say on the night.
"I didn’t know who did what."
The first shot was actually thrown by Gerrard’s friend John Doran, 29, of Huyton, Liverpool.
He and four other men have admitted affray and threatening behaviour.
The victim said the millionaire midfielder tried to grab a card controlling the stereo from him.
"I didn’t give it to him, no," he said.
"It wasn’t my permission to be giving it out to somebody else, it was my job so I didn’t hand it over.
"He made a move to try to grab the card to take it away and I remember it slipped on the floor at one stage."
He denied punching back at Gerrard when they clashed violently.
But in a police interview read to court, Gerrard claimed it was the other way round.
The father-of-two said he had permission from manageress Sabrina Malik to pick some songs and Mr. McGee was arrogant and rude to him.
He told detectives: "He grabbed my music menu off me and said ’You are not f****** deciding what music goes on in here’."
He added: "When he grabbed it I said ’What’s your problem, why can’t I change it?’
"He basically said to me ’I am not putting your music on.’
"It was quite aggressive, and I said ’What’s the f****** problem, why can’t I put my music on?
"He said ’Because you f****** can’t, you’re not allowed.
"I said ’I have permission to do it’."
The seven women and five men of the jury heard that Gerrard felt upset and "gutted" about what happened.
The player told detectives Mr. McGee proceeded to stare at him through a gap in a partition wall.
Gerrard, married to model Alex Curran, wanted to sort the problem out so went back to discuss it with Mr. McGee, he said.
"I didn’t go over there intentionally to have another argument or start fighting," he said.
"I was having a good night but I was gutted and just wanted to straighten it out with him."
Gerrard said he believed Mr. McGee was going to attack him.
"He stood up quite aggressively out of his stool and I thought to myself ’I am not going to be able to sort this out in the way I wanted’," Gerrard said.
"I thought he was going to give me a smack.
"He was shouting back and I didn’t know what he was saying but he started arguing and I thought he was going to hit me so that’s why I threw a punch."
Mr. McGee lost a front tooth crown and suffered a cut face in the melee.
Gerrard’s police interviews end with his solicitor, Richard Green, saying the star was "deeply apologetic" about what happened.
"He understands his obligations and responsibilities and this is completely out of character and out of the blue," he said.
"He is extremely remorseful for what actually happened and certainly there wasn’t any intention for events to turn out that way."
The court heard that when arrested Gerrard was "totally co-operative" with police.
He is expected to go into the witness box on Thursday morning.
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