Door wars: How 'One punch' Doyle took on 'Mr Big'

Hardman Paul Doyle remembers his dispute with Salford villain Paul Massey

- DAMON WILKINSON

THEY were old mates and two of Salford's most notorious villains. But when the Manchester 'door wars' erupted in the early 90s 'One Punch' Paul Doyle and 'Mr Big' Paul Massey clashed in the most bloody and spectacular fashion.

Both Doyle and Massey were graduates of Salford's Catholic 'reform schools' and as young men their paths soon crossed as they began carving out fearsome reputations in the city's criminal underworld. It's said Massey even gave his pal his nickname after witnessing him knock out five men in quick succession during a night out at Pips nightclub in Manchester.

From that moment, the underworld legend of 'One Punch' was born. But fast forward to 1993, with gangs jostling to control the drug supply in Manchester's booming club scene, and venues targeted for protection money, Doyle and Massey found themselves at loggerheads.

The roots of the dispute are murky, but in an interview with James English for the Anything Goes YouTube series, Doyle suggested it stemmed from a row over Massey and his Ordsall based firm intruding on what he considered to be rival territory in Salford. In Gang War: The Inside Story of Manchester's Gangs, Peter Walsh says it was sparked by the shooting of Doyle's brother Bradley at the Valentine's club.

And while Doyle insisted he and Massey continued to share a mutual respect, the same couldn't be said for the rest of the crew. Doyle said: "I would never throw punches at Massey, not of fear, but out of friendship. But his firm despised me."

Whatever the reason for the fall-out, when Massey's lads began causing a headache for the pub and club owners of Salford and Manchester, Doyle was the man they went to for help.

"From being the biggest menace in Manchester these club owners are coming to me saying would I bar this firm from nightclubs?" Doyle told English. "If I've got this firm coming to me anyway I'm thinking 'Why not earn something??