AT TEENAGE MAN UTD FAN

‘A vile offence but not worst on pitch’ Reds legend who roared for Lions

JAMIE Carragher has previously been scathing about footballers who spit at each other – but he also said it was not the worst thing to happen.

In a 2015 newspaper column he called it “vile” and “disgusting”.

When Manchester United’s Jonny Evans and Newcastle United’s Papiss Cisse were handed six and seven-match bans respectively for the offence, he said their punishment was “a little excessive” if compared to an “over-the-top tackle that would ‘only’ get three games”.

Carragher wrote: “As usual, there have been people who have said, ‘It is the worst thing that can happen on a pitch’; it is vile but let me assure you – I’d have preferred Lucas Neill to have spat the day he broke my leg in September 2003!”

He added he was “shocked more than angry” when Celta Vigo player Aleksandr Mostovoi spat at him in 1998 during a UEFA Cup game. JAMIE Carragher is a Liverpool legend and won eight major trophies as he made 700 appearances during a 17-year career.

He won the FA Cup twice, three League Cups, the Champions League, the UEFA cup, the UEFA Supercup and the FA community shield twice.

And he earned 38 caps for England, playing at Euro 2004 and the 2006 and 2010 World Cups.

“Carra” – an Everton fan as a child – was seen as a utility player at Liverpool until the arrival of manager Rafa Benitez, who made him one of Europe’s most dominant centre-backs.

He has a charity foundation and in 2015 got a Beacon Award for community work on Merseyside.

LEGEND Carra in Liverpool kit