Roy Keane’s greatest bust-ups: THAT foul on Alf-Inge Haaland, providing out a fan within the automobile park, wishing he’d hit Alan Shearer tougher and two main clashes with managers

Roy Keane is one of the Premier League‘s most iconic midfielders.

The former Manchester United captain – who won the competition seven times as a player between 1994 and 2003 – was inducted into the Premier League’s Hall of Fame in 2021.

Keane was an aggressive box-to-box midfielder who tackled hard and looked to dominate games from the centre of the park.

But he sometimes crossed the line and was sent off 11 times during his United career.

Keane featured in plenty of bust-ups as a player… as well as a few more since he hung up his boots in 2006.

Read on as Mail Sport looks back at six of Keane’s biggest bust-ups, starting with one that occurred as recently as Sunday.

Ipswich fan on Sunday

Keane furiously fired back at a fan who was abusing him and offered to continue their heated conversation in the ‘car park’ moments after Man United’s 1-1 draw with Ipswich at Portman Road on Sunday. 

A fan who was nearby, Neil Finbow, later took to Facebook to describe the altercation – calling it his ‘new claim to fame’. Finbow also admitted that he ‘hated’ Keane, who was the manager in charge of the Tractor Boys between April 2009 and January 2011.

The fan wrote on Facebook: ‘New claim to fame. Just been offered out into the car park by Roy Keane after a few choice words.’

He added: ‘Even Jamie Redknapp had to come over to get him away. Just your average Sunday evening out.’

Finbow went on to detail the exchange, writing: ‘I was reminding him that he set us back five years and ruined our football club. I also mentioned how he wasn’t fit to step foot anywhere near our ground. 

‘Oh, and I mentioned about him walking out on a World Cup and breaking Haaland’s leg and putting it in his autobiography. I hate the bloke, and that’s been boiling up since he got sacked all those years ago.’ 

Alf-Inge Haaland

As mentioned by the Ipswich fan above, one of Keane’s most controversial Premier League moments involved Alf-Inge Haaland, who is the father of current Man City star Erling.

During a Manchester derby in 2001, Keane was rightly sent off for a horrific foul on Haaland after deliberately planting the studs of his right boot into the City player’s right knee.

Contrary to the claim made by Ipswich fan Finbow, Keane did not break the leg of Haaland, who was able to complete the full 90 minutes. But that is not to say that Keane did not intend to seriously injure Haaland.

Keane had seemingly been out for revenge because of an incident that took place in 1997 when the Irishman was accused of faking an injury after rupturing his ACL.

As referee David Elleray raised the red card, Keane shouted down to Haaland – who was still on the floor: ‘Don’t ever stand over me again sneering about fake injuries. And tell your pal [former Leeds defender David] Wetherall there’s some for him as well.’

Keane was given a three-match ban by the FA fined £5,000. He was punished again the following year – when he was suspended for further five matches ban and hit with a £150,000 fine – after suggesting in his autobiography that he had meant to hurt Haaland.

Sir Alex Ferguson

Keane’s best years came under the management of Sir Alex Ferguson at Man United, where he played 480 games and won 17 team trophies.

However, Keane has apparently barely spoken to Ferguson in almost 20 years. Keane and Ferguson fell out in 2005 after the Scot was left fuming by Keane’s decision to criticise his team-mates during an interview with MUTV, which was never broadcast.

Keane later apologised but has since said: ‘I kind of wish I hadn’t.’

In a recent chat with former United team-mate Gary Neville on The Overlap, Keane hit out at Ferguson again.

Neville claimed that Ferguson used to withdraw United players from the England squad around crucial periods of the club season, something Keane said he would be ‘ashamed’ to do himself.

Keane said: ‘When I was a manager, and obviously players were getting called up, I’d be ashamed of my life to tell a player that he couldn’t go and play for his country. You might say it’s a different challenge at Manchester United, but I still think you’re a manager and when a player gets an international call-up, you should be happy for them because it’s a dream.’

Mick McCarthy

Despite saying a player representing their country is a ‘dream’, Keane famously ditched the Republic of Ireland squad ahead of the 2002 World Cup following a row with manager Mick McCarthy.

They had briefly been international team-mates in the early 1990s – at the start of Keane’s international career and towards the end of McCarthy’s.

It is understood that the pair never really saw eye to eye as team-mates and this mutual dislike probably contributed to an explosive bust-up in Saipan.

Keane was far from impressed by the quality of the pitches at the club’s training camp. He voiced his discontent to the press and also hit out at the Irish FA’s lack of organisation.

McCarthy then challenged Keane in front of his team-mates and also accused him of faking injury during a play-off game against Iran.

Keane was furious and apparently hit back: ‘Mick, you’re a liar… you’re a f***ing w****r. I didn’t rate you as a player, I don’t rate you as a manager, and I don’t rate you as a person. You’re a f***ing w***”r and you can stick your World Cup up your a***. The only reason I have any dealings with you is that somehow you are the manager of my country! You can stick it up your b****cks.’

Alan Shearer

One of Keane’s 11 red cards for United came against Newcastle in September 2001 after he threw a ball at Alan Shearer’s head and then aggressively swung his arm towards the striker late on in a 4-3 defeat.

After being dismissed, Keane tried to have another go at Shearer – who reacted by staring him down – but the Irishman was restrained by David Beckham.

Shearer later claimed that Keane waited for him in the tunnel after the game but was unable to get to him due to many people being in between them.

Recalling the incident, Keane once said: ‘I lost my temper, we were losing 4-3, I think, in the last minute.

‘If you’re going to get sent off, the worst thing is, I pushed him. If you’re going to get sent off you might as well punch him properly because you’re going to get the same punishment.

‘You might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb. That’s what I was thinking afterwards. It was just a push. It was ridiculous.’

Arsenal fan last year

Keane was headbutted by Arsenal fan Scott Law in September last year when he was at the Emirates Stadium working for Sky Sports.

Law, 43, was hit with a three-year banning order from football. He went on trial in May after pleading not guilty to a charge of common assault in relation to an incident where he and Keane clashed during a Premier League game between Arsenal and Man United.

The Gunners season-ticket holder’s defence team claimed CCTV footage from inside the stadium, shown in court, displayed Keane elbowing the defendant in the face.

Delivering his verdict, District Judge Angus Hamilton said he believed Law had been ‘untruthful about what happened’ at the match.

The fracas began towards the end of the game when Keane and fellow Sky Sports pundit Micah Richards were walking through the stadium to take up their positions in the studio ahead of the post-match analysis.

Giving evidence in court, Keane said: ‘We missed the final two goals but that was the least of my worries.’

He added: ‘There was a bit of confusion, a lot of people, lots of noise, shouting, as you would expect, five to 10 minutes to go in the football match. Before I knew it, I’m hit. I just felt the contact, and I’ve fallen back through some doors.

‘The only way I can describe it is, without a doubt, in shock. I didn’t expect that to happen, not when I was in the workplace.’