Roy Keane reveals £800 bet he won at Sunderland that 'lost him the dressing room'

Manchester United legend Roy Keane has discussed the time he made £800 from his Sunderland players.

Keane was in charge of the Black Cats between 2006 and 2008, winning 42 per cent of his games and earning promotion to the Premier League after winning the Championship in 2007.

And there are a number of classic stories related to his time in the North East, with the absolute best being when he took £800 from his squad.

The story goes that after goalkeeper Craig Gordon conceded a free-kick in a game during pre-season, Keane decided to show him how it was done.

He went in goal and said that he if they scored past him he would give them £1,000.

However in the event they missed, they owed Keane £100. The Irishman gave it absolutely everything in between the sticks and ended up being nearly £1,000 richer as nobody scored past him when taking free-kicks from 20 yards.

Yet the goalkeeping union weren't too happy as they felt as though Keane was taking liberties.

Speaking on Stick to Football, brought to you by Sky Bet, Keane said: “I made £800-£900, but I probably lost the dressing room! We were at pre-season, playing down at the Algarve somewhere, and Craig’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."

Image: Getty

Keane did get his money though, bringing up the debt needing to be settled during the half-time team talk of Sunderland's next friendly.

He added: “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!’”