Lee Owens cut quite a smug figure when he was frog-marched on to the plane shipping English football hooligans out of Belgium and back to some army base in England. His distended beer belly bearing the logos "Made In Stockton" and the more alarming "Pussy Hunter" were not enough to put his stepfather, Les Cooper, off his boy.

"If anyone starts anything he can certainly handle himself, but really he's just a big pussycat," said Cooper.

Owens's criminal record, which stems from his membership of a gang called the Stockton Wrecking Crew, will tell you that. Owens and his pals specialised in ripping vending machines off pub walls in the 1980s.

The married father of three children, known as Oathead, also has convictions for assault, theft, burglary, criminal damage and public disorder and is a regular at Middlesbrough's Riverside stadium.

No wonder he was smiling.