• Star upset by man’s refusal to change music, jury told
• Liverpool and England midfielder denies affray

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard punched a man three times in a nightclub brawl with the “style and speed of a professional boxer”, a court heard today.

The England midfielder “totally lost it” after failing to gain control of the venue’s music from another customer, Marcus McGee, on a night out in Southport in the early hours of 29 December, a jury at Liverpool crown court heard.

Businessman McGee, 34, was the “man who said no to Steven Gerrard”, a local hero and one of the world’s top footballers, the prosecution said at the opening of Gerrard’s trial for affray.

The jury was shown CCTV footage from the Lounge Inn that night showing Gerrard with friends celebrating Liverpool’s 5-1 victory that day at Newcastle, which had put his team top of the Premier League.

Gerrard and his friends can be seen singing football songs, dancing and downing shots. Later footage from the club showed Gerrard hitting out at McGee with three uppercut punches, it was alleged.

Things had turned sour at around 2am when Gerrard went over to talk to McGee, a customer who had control of the venue’s CD player, and had a disagreement about his choice of music, asking him for the card that controlled the machine, prosecutor David Turner QC said.

Gerrard, who denies affray and who sat stern-faced in the dock in a grey suit and tie, was said to have approached McGee saying: “Here y’are lad. Give me that lad.” But McGee objected to his attitude and the expression “lad”, Turner said.

“Not many people on Merseyside, or indeed anywhere else would refuse a request from Steven Gerrard, but Mr McGee did,” said Turner. “There can be no doubt that this refusal astounded Steven Gerrard. He walked away back to his party, but the CCTV evidence shows how much his mood had changed. He was no longer the centre of that high-spirited party.”

He said Gerrard was clearly walking around, musing on what had happened about the man “who had said no to Steven Gerrard”. Six minutes later, it is alleged, Gerrard approached McGee, who was still at the bar, saying: “Who the fuck do you think you are?” The two men stood head to head in a hostile confrontation often seen between football players, Turner said.

Then Gerrard’s friend John Doran first jabbed his elbow into McGee’s face, and Gerrard “totally lost it” and joined in “with a succession of well-aimed uppercut punches delivered with the style and speed of a professional boxer, rather than a professional footballer”.

Ian Smith, another member of Gerrard’s party, allegedly joined in. Doran and Smith kicked McGee, the court was told, and he was left with multiple injuries including a head wound that needed four stitches, a lost tooth, and a black eye. The jury heard Gerrard was pulled away by the bar manager and restrained. McGee, his face bleeding, was later seen sat at the bar with his girlfriend following a separate incident that didn’t involve Gerrard.

Six co-defendants, including two Accrington Stanley players, have admitted charges of affray or threatening behaviour before their trial was due to begin.

The prosecution said the incident “must have been very frightening to those ordinary members of the public present in the Lounge Inn that night”.

Turner described Gerrard as a world class footballer who is “a star”. He added: “Wherever you go in Liverpool and indeed the world, there are little boys proudly wearing that red Liverpool shirt with No 8 and the name Gerrard on the back. The prosecution do not say that Mr Gerrard is normally an arrogant man; we don’t say that he’s a bully. But what we say is, that night he just lost his self-control and joined in an attack which should never have taken place. He let himself down.”

When interviewed by the police, Gerrard agreed there had been an exchange of words concerning the music, but said McGee had been aggressive. He said he had no intention of having a fight but when McGee stood up and they started arguing, he believed McGee was about to hit him so he punched him on the side of the head. He thought he had struck the first blow in the fight and had not been aware of his friend striking him with his elbow.

The jurors were told they had to decide whether the prosecution had proved that he was not acting in self-defence when he struck Marcus McGee. “On this occasion, Steven Gerrard’s fists, not his feet, did the talking. This was never self-defence in 100 years,” Turner said. The trial continues.

Huyton streets to Anfield riches

Steven Gerrard lives and breathes Liverpool – both the city and the club. Born Steven George Gerrard, in Huyton on the city’s outskirts, 29 years ago, he has never left.

His talent on the football pitch was apparent from an early age. He joined Liverpool’s youth academy aged nine, the same year his 10-year-old cousin Jon-Paul Gilhooley was killed during the Hillsborough tragedy.

The midfielder has spent his entire career at Anfield, making his debut for his club in November 1998 as a substitute against Blackburn, and becoming club captain at the age of 23.

When he lifted the Champions League trophy in 2005 – after playing an instrumental role in the stunning comeback from 3-0 down against AC Milan in Istanbul to win on penalties – he cemented his place in the roster of Anfield legends.

He made his international debut nine years ago against and now has 74 international caps.

Gerrard married the gossip mag favourite and fashionista Alex Curran in June 2007; they live with their two daughters, Lilly-Ella and Lexie, in a £1m home in Freshfield, Merseyside.