A Tottenham Hotspur starlet faces jail after he smashed a lager bottle into another youth's face at a Mid Sussex birthday party.

Striker Allan Tait, 18, a Spurs under-19 player, hit out during a bust-up between two groups.

The assault left Nicholas Beckingham needing stitches to wounds around his left eye which have left him permanently scarred.

Tudor Owen, prosecuting, told Hove Crown Court that trouble flared at East Grinstead Hockey Club in October 1999.

Tait, who has since been released from his Spurs contract, allegedly hit Mr Beckingham with the bottle twice against the face, causing it to smash on the second blow.

Mr Beckingham told a jury that he had drunk about five pints of lager that evening and was having a "good night".

He said he saw his friend Tom Gibbard arguing with someone he had never met at the 18th birthday party for their friend Sarah Kellier.

He said: "They were just arguing, I couldn't hear anything. Tom said something to him and he went off.

"The lad came back with some friends and they started to have a go at Tom. There were about three.

"I just went over to break it up. I said, 'We don't want any trouble, it's her 18th birthday party, we don't want to upset her.'.

"I didn't want Tom to get hurt and I didn't want to ruin the party."

He told the court that Tait then became aggressive and that he pushed him with one arm to move him back.

He said: "His arm rose up in the air and the glass came down across my head. He hit me with it and it smashed, and then he threw the remainder of it at me."

When interviewed by police, Tait, of Colchester Vale, Forest Row, denied holding the bottle while smashing it against his face.

He claimed he had thrown the bottle after a bottle was thrown at him and he had been pushed by Mr Beckingham but had not intended to harm anyone.

Tait, now 19, added: "It was just an accident - that is all it was."

Tait, who now plays for Crawley Town reserves and has bagged 16 goals in 17 appearances, was cleared of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

But he was convicted of unlawful wounding after a three-day trial.

Recorder Jeffrey Blackett adjourned sentencing until March. He told Tait: "You have been found guilty of a serious offence. The most likely disposal of this offence is you will have a custodial sentence."

Tait was granted bail on the condition he lives with his parents until sentencing.