A football match between the city’s two universities had to be abandoned after crowd trouble saw it descend into chaos.

The varsity game between Manchester University and Manchester Metropolitan (MMU) men’s teams had to be halted after trouble flared around the 80 minute mark.

Eyewitnesses said dozens of people ran onto the pitch of the Regional Athletics Arena next to City’s Etihad Stadium where it was being staged.

Many of the pitch invaders were carrying flares and letting off other pyrotechnics as an estimated crowd of around 800 watched the action, which began at 8pm.

And things turned ugly with reports of scuffles between different groups.

The M.E.N understands the incident began after Manchester Uni went 2-0 up in the game.

In the aftermath of the goal a fan was said to have ran onto the field to celebrate before becoming involved in a confrontation with an MMU player.

(Image: Connor Wigley)

That then escalated with dozens of people spilling onto the turf.

A police spokesman confirmed they were called by security at the venue who reported a disturbance.

However they said once officers arrived things had started to calm down.

They said no crimes were reported to them and no arrests were made.

The spokesman added they would be reviewing CCTV footage to see if they can highlight any potential offenders.

Andrew Williams said on Twitter: “Can’t believe the scenes at our university varsity match, 100+ man brawl, flares and game abandoned!!”

“I was playing and the flares nearly hit me.

“It was crazy.”

Another spectator said: “There were a lot of drunk people around.

“It was getting pretty heated even before the game.”

A University of Manchester spokesman said they were aware of the trouble and waiting a full report on what happened.

He said: “We are aware that police were called to a student football match with MMU following reports of a disturbance on Friday night.

“No arrests were made and the police are currently reviewing CCTV footage.

“We will, of course, assist the police in any investigation and are awaiting a full report on the circumstances surrounding the abandoned match.”

An MMU spokesman said: "We're aware of reports of an incident at a Varsity football match last night and standby to assist police with their enquiries."

The men’s match was preceded by a clash between the universities' women’s teams, which kicked-off at 5:30pm and which MMU won 2-0.