Man Utd legend 'hated' his own teammate and refused to speak to him in the dressing room which left rest of the squad stunned
A Manchester United legend has spoken out about the former teammate that he 'hated' despite the pair winning several trophies together.
During Sir Alex Ferguson's legendary time at Old Trafford, several of Manchester United's greatest ever players played in what became the most successful period in the club's history.
The likes of Roy Keane, David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo all played together as Ferguson led the team to an impressive 38 trophies during his 26 years as manager of United, including 13 Premier League titles and 2 UEFA Champions League titles.
But there were two players who, despite their success together, despised playing with each other at United, and haven't spoken to each other since their major fallout at the club over two decades ago.
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Andy Cole and Teddy Sheringham played together for four seasons at Manchester United, making 95 appearances together as they won three Premier League titles, an FA Cup and the famous Champions League in 1999.
Despite this, it was later revealed that the pair hated each other and wouldn't even speak because of an incident when Cole come on to replace Sheringham for his England debut in March 1995.
As Cole prepared for one of the biggest moments of his career, be went to shake hands with his national teammate, only to be left hanging and brutally embarrassed as he came onto the pitch.
Speaking about the incident, Cole said: “I didn’t want to play the game after that. That’s how embarrassed I felt. Snubbed on the line when you’re making your debut as a young kid… I think I hit the bar in the game but I couldn’t get it out of my mind.
“I walk on to the pitch, 60,000 or so watching. Sheringham is coming off. I expect a brief handshake, a ‘Good luck, Coley’, something. I am ready to shake. He snubs me. He actively snubs me, for no reason I was ever aware of then or since.
"He walks off. I don’t even know the bloke so he can’t have any issue with me. We’re fellow England players, it is my debut and he snubs me.
“You know what my immediate thoughts were? ‘Jesus Christ! How many people just saw Teddy Sheringham do that to me?’ I was embarrassed. I was confused. And there you have it. From that moment on, I knew Sheringham was not for me.”
Two years later, when it was announced the Sheringham would be joining United, the pair still hadn't settled their differences, and this remained the case for the remainder of their time together at Old Trafford.
Continuing, Cole admitted: “We never spoke, unless it was going to be another argument between us… never spoke. We didn’t exchange a single word while we were there.
“We scored a lot of goals. I never spoke a single word to him. People wonder how on earth we could function like that. Gary Pallister once said to me: ‘I know you don’t speak to Teddy and he doesn’t speak to you, but at least you play well together.’
"We did, and I wouldn’t ever cast aspersions on Sheringham’s talent as a top-rate footballer for his clubs and country. I’ve just loathed him personally for 15 years.
“I would rather sit down and have a cuppa with Neil Ruddock, who broke my leg in two places in 1996, than with Teddy Sheringham, who I’ve pretty much detested for the past 15 years.”
Topics: Football, Premier League, Sir Alex Ferguson, England, Man Utd
Ben McCrum