'Threatening to shoot him in the legs' – How Steven Gerrard overcame his early-career gangster terror

Steven Heighway knew when Steven Gerrard was still only 14 years of age that the midfielder was going to "make it" as a footballer. The man himself, though, was less convinced of his quality – at least when he took his first tentative steps in the professional ranks. When Gerrard warmed up in front of the Kop for the first time ahead of his Liverpool debut on November 29, 1998, the nerve-racked teenager "could almost hear them saying, 'Who's this skinny tw*t?!'"

When Gerrard made his first start for the Reds the following week, against Tottenham, he felt completely out of his depth while David Ginola was running rings around him. It wouldn't take Gerrard long, though, to adjust to the pace of the Premier League. He became a first-team regular at Anfield during the 1990-2000 campaign before being voted the PFA's Young Player of the Year the following season.

Being recognised by his peers capped a remarkably rapid rise to prominence for a kid that had initially been racked by self-doubt. There was also the fact that Gerrard had also been dealing with a persistent back problem caused by a combination of growing pains and excessive game time during his teenage years.

However, the truly incredible thing about Gerrard's emergence as a future superstar was that he managed to perform at such a high level on the field while going through hell off it, having been targeted by a local gangster intent on exploiting the England international's success for his own financial gain…

'Hoodwinked' into a heist

In March 2006, John Kinsella, James Muldoon, Stephen McMullen and Thomas Hodgson were arrested on the M62 motorway near Huddersfield after a 130mph police chase. The four men – all from Liverpool – stood accused of stealing £41,000 worth of goods (Easter eggs, crisps and detergents) from a lorry depot in Grantham, Lincolnshire.

Hodgson subsequently admitted to a charge of robbery, but Kinsella, Muldoon and McMullen all maintained their innocence when they went on trial at Lincoln Crown Court in April 2008. Kinsella, who also denied an additional charge of dangerous driving, insisted that he was not a member of the gang responsible for the heist, with his solicitor, Gorden Aspden, claiming that his client had been "hoodwinked" into getting involved.

Kinsella stated that he knew nothing of the planned robbery beforehand and believed that he had been invited along to deal with a debt owed by a friend of his fellow accused Hodgson. According to Aspden, there was "a lot of evidence to back up” Kinsella’s story, while his defence also included a character reference from Steven Gerrard's father, Paul.

AdvertisementGetty Images Sport'Terrorised' by 'The Psycho'

In a letter submitted to the court, and verified by police, Paul Gerrard wrote: "I would like to say that in 2001 my son Steven was being terrorised by a notorious Liverpool gangster known as 'The Psycho' (George Bromley Junior), who was threatening to maim my son by shooting him in the legs. Also, he was trying to extort a large amount of money from Steven. We immediately contacted the police and asked for protection."

The letter also disclosed that Liverpool were in contact with the authorities during the period in question and had also provided extra security for their player. However, Paul Gerrard said that the threats and harassment "went on for a long time" and that his son had even been "chased" by the gangster as he drove home from training.

"It was really having a bad effect on Steven's career," Paul Gerrard confessed, while also revealing that his son's car had been "smashed up" at one point. "This was one of the worst times of our lives and we were at our wits’ end when we were introduced by a family friend to John Kinsella."

'Nightmare'

Kinsella was well-known within the Merseyside underworld, and had previously served a nine-year prison sentence for attempted robbery and carrying a firearm with intent to commit an offence. According to Paul Gerrard, after reaching out to Kinsella, the martial arts expert assured him and his family that he "would resolve our nightmare".

During his trial in 2008, Kinsella explained that he was already familiar with both Bromley Junior and his deceased father, George Bromley Senior.

"George Bromley Jnr was a young lad," Kinsella told the court. "but he was a very violent figure in Liverpool. I took steps. I spoke to George Bromley Jnr. I told him to stop it and leave [Steven Gerrard] alone. After I had spoken to him, he followed my advice."

Indeed, Paul Gerrard confirmed in his letter that his family "never had any more problems from the Liverpool underworld", adding, "Steven and I have total respect for John."

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'Curious business'

Despite Paul Gerrard's testimony, Kinsella was found guilty of the robbery and sentenced to 14 years in jail – though he wasn't in court for the verdict. Rather, during a lunch break at the trial on April 17, 2008, Kinsella absconded after being allowed to wander Lincoln Crown Court's grounds.

Kinsella's legal team audaciously challenged the length of his sentence while he was still on the run – and actually managed to have it reduced by three years. Lord Justice Moses called the whole affair "curious business" but appeal judges accepted that the original jail term was "manifestly excessive".

However, Kinsella was eventually arrested by armed police in Amsterdam in February 2009 and he belatedly began his prison sentence two months later.

He died on May 5, 2018, after being shot in front of his partner while out walking his dog on a secluded footpath in a wooded area that runs alongside the M62 on Merseyside.