Like the Wild West – Roy Keane reveals he was ‘thrown through window’ during ‘sneaky night out’ gone wrong in Nottingham
ROY KEANE revealed he was “thrown through a bar window” during a “sneaky night out” in Nottingham shortly after he signed for Man Utd.
The former Republic of Ireland captain joined Manchester United from Nottingham Forest in 1993.
In the 12 years he spent at Old Trafford, Keane won seven Premier League titles, four FA Cups, and a Champions League, among a laundry list of trophies.
Speaking on the latest episode of The Overlap, brought to you by Sky Bet, the Irishman revealed that he returned to Nottingham for a night out shortly after joining the Red Devils.
However, what was supposed to be a jovial return to his former stomping ground went wrong in the most unexpected of ways.
Keane said: “I got thrown through a bar window at Nottingham!
“I was in a wine bar, and I had just come to United, and I remember I went back to Forest to check on my house.
“The reserves were playing, but I had a sneaky night out, and I used to go drink when I was a Forest player.
“I used to drink the wine from the bottle, I wouldn’t have the glass – it was cheap wine – like £6.
“I was with a few lads and a few words were said, and this guy threw me out the window. I went through the window and a door, I landed out in the street, it was like the Wild West!
“I was on the floor, but I still had the bottle of wine in my hand!”
The 52-year-old shared a number of stories on the latest episode of the podcast, as well as some colourful views about current trends in football.
The former Ireland assistant manager has been out of the sport since a brief stint on the coaching ticket at the City Ground.
His previous work included being the gaffer of Sunderland, guiding them out of the Championship and into the Premier League in 2007.
He resigned from the job in December 2008, and pinpointed the moment he may have lost the dressing room during one segment on The Overlap.
He explained: “I made £800-£900, but I probably lost the dressing room!
“We were at pre-season, playing down at the Algarve somewhere, and Craig [Gordon]’s in goal – there was a free-kick, about 40-yards out – and he gets beaten.
“He had a wall out – I said, ‘Why are you having a wall for? He’s miles away!’
“I’m trying to have a bit of banter, a bit of fun – it’s pre-season – I said, ‘I’ll go in goal tomorrow lads, if any of you want to take a free-kick against me, go 20-yards out, I’m going to have no wall’, and I said, ‘If any of you score, I’ll give you £1,000’.
“A few missed and gave me £100.
“So, the next day, it was a warm down, I said, ‘Lads, if any of you want to try it’, so I’m thinking one or two might try it, eight or nine started walking down, so I get into goal and I had no wall, 20 yards out, so I’m thinking I could be £9,000 down here.
“You’re thinking one or two will definitely score if they hit the target, and hit it properly, I won’t be able to get near it.
“I remember the two or three goalkeepers that were together – obviously Craig – they thought I was disrespecting them.
“It was more the goalkeepers that were annoyed, the players that came thought this is a great laugh, ‘we could be getting £1,000 each tonight’.
“No one scored – I made some decent saves. Well, it was £1,000 for each shot!
“You can bet your life I was diving around like Peter Shilton! Strangely enough, they were very slow in paying me. This is where I kind of backfired a little bit.
“The next day we had another friendly, I was thinking ‘no one’s paid me yet’.
“It was half-time, the game was 0-0 – [the way] I was hoping it was going, so I’m having a go at the players, I went ‘Listen lads, you need to do better – and I better get my f*****g money tonight! You got to pay me that money tonight, I’m telling you’.
“Eight or nine lads came up to me after the game, I went ‘It’s about time!’”