Following our look at when and how sports stars see red, we now turn our focus to what happens when fans fight back.

Clearly sick and tired of certain athletes' behaviour, be it on or off the pitch, some fans seem to want to take matters into their own hands.

Here we bring you a selection of some of the most memorable occasions when fans have raised hell with the people they are supposed to idolise.

Robert McHendry, Celtic Park, 2007 - Headlines were made in Glasgow during a Champions League tie against Milan last year when the Hoops fan ran onto the pitch and felled Rossoneri keeper Dida. That McHendry's 'blow' barely touched Dida's face - a tickle or a stroke would be more appropriate descriptions - was of little import to the Brazilian, who pirouetted and hit the deck with more grace than Darcy Bussell, after having originally given chase to his 'attacker' (see picture). McHendry was given a lifetime ban for being an undisputed idiot, but there was no doubting who the real villain of the piece was.

Unidentified Internazionale fan, San Siro, 2005 - But that was not the first time Dida had been involved in attracting unwanted attention from the crowd, although in all fairness, on this particular occasion, he can be forgiven for going down - as most people would if they were hit on the shoulder by a live firework. That is exactly what happened in another Champions League match, this time a quarter-final tie against city rivals Inter in an explosive (no pun intended) Milan derby. Such was the severity of the incident, the game was abandoned and Milan were awarded the win, while Inter were fined and ordered to play their next four home games behind closed doors.

Timothy Smith, White Hart Lane, 2007 - The Tottenham fan invaded the pitch at the final whistle following Chelsea's FA Cup quarter-final replay win over Spurs and, deeming the victors celebrations in Spurs' own back yard a little excessive, swung a punch at Blues midfielder Frank Lampard. While most of the nation were willing the punch to find its intended, and undeniably ample, target, surprisingly it missed. Smith was then pounced on by a combination of stewards, Chelsea players and staff before being handed a lifetime ban from White Hart Lane and a three-year ban from all other stadia.

"R", Copenhagen, 2007 - The campaign to disprove the widely perceived image of football fans as overweight, drunken louts was given a proverbial kick in the balls during a crucial Euro 2008 qualifier last year when an overweight, drunken lout of a Denmark fan raced onto the pitch and attempted to clothesline referee Herbert Fandel. The supporter, known only as "R" for legal and safety reasons, failed and was soon calmed down by a posse of Denmark players, but the damage had already been done - the match was abandoned, his team lost the match by default, Sweden went on to qualify for the tournament and Denmark did not. But for us, the innocent observer, it all seemed worth it just to see the look on his face when he realised what he had done, as if he had just woken from a bad dream. The reason for this? The "15 to 18 pints" he had slugged prior to kick-off.

Togo supporters, Lome, 2007 - An African football match is usually a joy to attend with the colourful atmosphere resembling more a carnival than a sporting event. Not so in Togo last year, when things turned nasty for Mali strikers Mamady Sidibe and Frederic Kanoute. The pair were set upon by crazed Togo fans after they had helped secure their country's place at the African Cup of Nations on the final day of qualification. Both players sustained injuries, but it was Sidibe who bore the brunt of the fans' anger, suffering a knife wound that was described as "horrific".

These random acts of lunacy are not exclusively reserved for football games however. Oh no, there are plenty of loonies out there with a penchant for mixing violence with other sports. Take a look at the best of the rest.

Gunter Parche, Hamburg, 1993 - By far the most disturbing entry on our list, Parche was a tennis fan who took fan violence to a new level when he plunged a steak knife into Monica Seles' back during a tournament in Hamburg. He was soon overpowered as Seles was rushed to hospital, but the Serbian-born former world number one did not play a competitive match for two years. Parche was eventually spared jail because he was found to be psychologically abnormal.

Alan Black, Adams Park, 2007 - The 60-year-old Wasps fan was ejected from the ground after attempting to deliver a few blows upon Clermont Auvergne prop Martin Scelzo last year. Black - a former Wasps captain and vice-president - reacted to the eruption of a brawl near him in which Wasps prop Tim Payne was punched six times in the face. The pensioner's chosen instrument of violence? A near deadly rolled-up matchday programme. A rather silly lifetime ban was mooted, but sense ultimately prevailed and he was handed a season-long ban from attending Premiership matches.

Neil Horan, Athens, 2004 - Not happy with having nearly killed himself by running onto the track at the 2003 British Grand Prix wearing a kilt and sporting a banner that read "Read the Bible. The Bible is always right", the disgraced Irish priest reappeared at the summer Olympics a year later still hell-bent on causing a scene. This time he jumped from the crowd and accosted marathon leader Vanderlei de Lima in an attempt to make the rest of the world sit up and take notice of his religious beliefs. He has since been handed an ASBO preventing him from attending the London Marathon.

LA Dodgers fans, LA, 1995 - And finally, over to America, where organisers at Dodgers Stadium were left cursing their decision to hand out 50,000 free baseballs to paying customers at a game against the Saint Louis Cardinals when the crowd began to drink heavily during the game. By the ninth inning, the majority of them were so sozzled, they took the ejections of right-fielder Raul Mondesi and coach Tommy Lasorda particularly badly and decided to pelt the pitch with their souvenir balls. The Cardinals were later awarded the game. As a footnote, Mondesi, now retired from the game, last surfaced back in 2006 when he was fined for stealing electricity.

Mike Hytner / Eurosport