Graham Johnson, 34, of Langdon Crescent, East Ham, denied murdering Terry Deans, 33, in July 2003.

Johnson's friend and fellow Toffees fan Vernon Wood, 56, of Seven Kings Road, Ilford, was cleared of murder.

Recommending Johnson serve a minimum 14 years the judge said Deans' stabbing was "deliberate and vicious."

'Repeated stabbing'

The jury at the Old Bailey heard that on 11 July last year, Mr Deans started making loud comments and chanting in The White Hart pub in Ilford.

Johnson, who is a painter and his friend Mr Wood, a cafe owner, told him to stop, the court heard.

When Mr Deans, a scaffolder from Dagenham, continued, Johnson hit him with a beer glass and stabbed him repeatedly.

Mr Deans staggered into the street where he collapsed. He died in hospital two days later.