The animosity even boiled over on the pitch during Premier League matches – particularly in one memorable clash between Manchester United and Sunderland
Jason McAteer has disclosed the moment when his lengthy feud with Roy Keane finally came to an end. The former Ireland teammates were locked in bitter conflict for years following Keane’s 2002 World Cup departure, after his explosive Saipan row with Mick McCarthy.
The animosity even boiled over on the pitch during Premier League matches – particularly in one memorable clash between Manchester United and Sunderland.
McAteer recounted that notorious incident whilst appearing on a new quiz show series, ‘Call Yourself A Fan’, sponsored by Coral, explaining how the duo eventually reconciled.
“We didn’t speak for twenty years and went backwards and forwards in the media, he’d hammer me so I’d hammer him, he’d give me some stick so I’d give him some stick,” said the hero of Ireland’s crucial World Cup qualification triumph against the Netherlands in September 2001, reports the Irish Mirror.
“We had a fight during Sunderland versus Man Utd and he ended up getting sent off.
“His book had just come out, he had hammered me in his book and started giving me some on the pitch, so I just told him to just shut up and said, ‘put it in your book, knobhead’.
“With a minute to go he’s just gone in with an elbow and got a red card, and we didn’t speak for the next twenty years.”
A ceasefire was eventually declared last year, according to McAteer.
“About six months ago I was in a café where I live with my missus, and he [Roy Keane] was in there with his family,” he said. “I went round the corner, and he left after about 20 minutes. I went to get the bill and the waiter came over and went, ‘He’s paid your bill’.
“I got dead emotional as I thought, had I wasted 20 years? Because he’s actually alright you know.
“So I rang Jamie Carragher and said, ‘soft arse has paid my bill in a restaurant, can I have his number?’, and he said he’d better ask him first.
“Two hours later, Carra rang me back and said, ‘Roy said he accepts the thank you, but you can f*** off, you’re not having his phone number!’.”
McAteer also discussed his memorable winning goal against the Netherlands on Call Yourself A Fan – a strike that virtually guaranteed Ireland’s most recent World Cup qualification.
He remembered how he unintentionally ignored U2’s lead singer Bono, who was performing at Slane on the same day as the high-profile Dutch team’s visit to Lansdowne Road.
“That day [against the Netherlands] U2 were playing at Slane Castle following on from the game,” he said.
“They had the big screens up at Slane, so 100,000 people were watching the game, and when we win 1-0 the crowd is going mental.
“Bono has actually come out and said it was the best warm up act they’ve ever had.
“After the game, I was quite emotional as it was such a big thing, and I went into the toilet just to compose myself and have a bit of a moment.
“Our physio followed me in and said ‘listen, I’ve had Bono on the phone’ which I thought was a red flag straight away.
“I said, ‘What does Bono want with me?’, and he said, ‘He wants you to go up on stage with U2 tonight in Slane’.
“I thought I would test him here and asked how he was going to get me to Slane, and straight away he [the physio] said, ‘He’s got a helicopter waiting for you. By the way, if you go, you’ve got to stay in your kit and don’t have a shower’.
“I’ve gone to him ‘this isn’t true, tell him I’m on the piss with John Aldridge in Grafton Street, if you want to come for a pint after you can meet us’.
“When I was out, someone came up to me with his phone, he’s got YouTube on and said ‘you know that goal you scored against Holland? I was at Slane’, and shows me a video of Bono stopping his singing, putting the Irish flag around him and saying ‘close your eyes, and imagine, it’s Jason McAteer!’ and I was supposed to walk out at that point!”.
“But I’m on the ale with Aldo [John Aldridge]!”.
“To make matters worse, I had a mad crush on Nelly Furtado and she was supporting him that night. I could have been married to Nelly Furtado!”.
