London  - Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard said on Friday that he is looking forward to the new season after he was cleared of a charge of affray concerning a fight in a bar last December.

Gerrard had admitted punching a man - Marcus McGee - in a Merseyside pub just after Christmas last year.

But the England midfielder insisted he was acting in self-defence and a jury took just 70 minutes to find him not guilty.

"I'd like to put this case behind me," Gerrard said outside Liverpool Crown Court. "I'm really looking forward to the season ahead and concentrating on football.

"I'd like to say a big thank you to my legal team, my friends and family and to everyone at Liverpool Football Club for supporting me."

Summing up, Judge Henry Globe told him: "The verdict is a credible verdict on the full facts of this case, and you walk away from this court with your reputation intact.

"You did not start the violence, it was started by the violent elbowing of Marcus McGee in the face by one of your friends, John Doran," he added.

"At all times you insisted that you only ever acted in what you believed was reasonable self-defence to what you understandably, albeit you accept mistakenly, believed was an attempted attack upon you by Marcus McGee.

"What at first sight to the casual observer may seem to have been a clear-cut case against you of unlawful violence, has been nowhere near as clear-cut upon careful analysis of the evidence."

Six of Gerrard's friends admitted charges connected with the brawl that happened in the Lounge Inn, Southport, in the early hours of 29 December, when Gerrard was celebrating Liverpool's 5-1 win over Newcastle United.

The incident followed an exchange between Gerrard and McGee, who was in charge of the music in the pub.

Gerrard and McGee were filmed talking on CCTV and Gerrard admitted in court that he had thrown a number of punches at McGee, but said he "firmly believed" he was about to be punched himself when McGee got off his bar stool.

Gerrard said he had thrown the punches in self-defence and that he regretted the incident.(dpa)