Their prime target was chairman Bill Kenwright as they demanded he give up his senior position. Majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri, who has invested more than £500 million since his 2016 takeover, had tried to appease irate fans in an open letter on Friday. The tensions have in fact grown with Everton’s 19 points from 20 games their lowest points tally since the 1997-98 season, when they just escaped relegation.

“The fans can protest and say what they want because it is their club. They are entitled,” Ferguson said. “I know how sick they are. I am as gutted as them. There are fans who are not happy. It is their right how they want to support the club.”

There were further worrying incidents at Old Trafford and St Mary’s on Saturday as the issue of crowd disturbance continued to cause concern.

Four arrests were made, including one on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker, in the away end as West Ham lost 1-0 at Manchester United. Some Manchester City fans ran on to the pitch at full-time following their 1-1 draw with Southampton.

Speaking as pundit on BT Sport, who were covering the game, former England midfielder Jermaine Jenas, said there needed to be strong deterrents to prevent a repeat.

“It’s becoming too often in the Premier League now,” he said. “It’s disgusting. It’s going back to old times, the dark ages of football. Bottles and coins being thrown on to the pitch.

“There needs to be some serious punishments handed out to all the clubs behaving in this way. This has happened at various stadiums all season and they need to stamp it out.”

An FA spokesperson said: “We will investigate the incident and will be liaising with the club and the police as a matter of urgency.”