The animosity towards Liverpool’s American owners deepened over the weekend when the son of Tom Hicks was heckled by angry fans and spat at in a pub outside Anfield after the Barclays Premier League match against Middlesbrough on Saturday.

Since admitting that he had held talks with Jürgen Klinsmann, the former Germany coach, about succeeding Rafael BenÍtez as the Liverpool manager, Hicks has incurred much of the wrath from supporters opposed to his and George Gillett Jr’s regime.

Tom Hicks Jr, who was appointed to the Liverpool board of directors in the wake of his father’s takeover of the club a year ago, had been to watch the 3-2 victory over Middlesbrough when, against the wishes of the small party he was with, he decided to visit the Sandon pub, a popular haunt among diehard fans situated in the shadow of the Kop, about an hour after the game had finished.

Although not immediately recognised, Hicks Jr was approached a few minutes later by one supporter with whom he is understood to have had a constructive discussion about his father’s long-term intentions, but after ordering drinks at the bar, the atmosphere changed. Hicks Jr and his party, which was thought to include at least two other Americans and two drivers, became the target of antiAmerican chants and when they went to leave about 15 minutes later, Hicks Jr is believed to have been confronted by one fan, who spat at him but missed.

About £1,000 worth of damage is also understood to have been caused to the car chauffeuring Hicks Jr as the remonstrations turned ugly. One onlooker told The Times: “It was just after 6pm that Hicks’s son and the group he was with came into the pub. After a few minutes people started to recognise who he was. They were at the bar ordering drinks when the antiAmerican chants started and they carried on until they left ten minutes later. You could say he was a bit naive coming in somewhere like that.”

Hicks Jr is not the first of Liverpool’s American contingent to visit the Sandon. Gillett’s son, Foster, did so twice before Christmas last year and was warmly greeted, although there was not the opposition to the takeover that there is now.

Despite Hicks Jr’s apparent claims that his father remains committed to Liverpool in the long term, Hicks was in Dubai last week, fuelling speculation that Dubai International Capital (DIC), the private equity investment arm of the Arab state, is on the verge of buying the club. Informal talks between DIC and the Americans have been going on for several weeks, but while Hicks’s intentions are unclear, Gillett is thought to be ready to sell his 50 per cent stake in the club.