Roy Keane sheds new light on why Sir Alex Ferguson kicked a boot at David Beckham's head

Roy Keane shed light on why Sir Alex Ferguson kicked a boot at David Beckham’s head.

It’s been over 20 years since one of the most notorious football dressing room incidents in Premier League history when United boss Ferguson kicked a loose boot towards David Beckham’s face.

The incident took place after an FA Cup tie against Arsenal in 2003, which saw the Old Trafford side fall to a 2-0 defeat.

At the time the story was splashed over the tabloid front pages, while it has become mythologised in the years since.

Speaking to Sky Sports on the incident while in the United dressing room, former club skipper Keane said: “I think Becks was over there somewhere, somewhere there at the mirror.

“I think the manager had a go at him for not tracking back and I think Becks said something back.

“It was an accident! He struck it well, but he was so unfortunate, honestly.

“If it was anybody else it would have been fine but because it was Becks at the time, and obviously Becks was so high profile, and like Jamie [Redknapp], a good-looking guy, that created one or two issues.

“But that all happens in dressing rooms. I used to love all that stuff.”

Beckham has long described the incident as a ‘freak accident’ and one that was forgotten about relatively quickly.

He explained, via 90min: "That was blown up out of all proportion. I’d made a couple of mistakes during the game and he came into the dressing room and a few harsh words were exchanged.

"He started to walk over to me and he kicked out at a pile of clothes on the floor. Out came this boot and then I quickly realised how accurate his kick had been as it struck me on the head, but there weren’t any hard feelings.

"It was a complete freak accident. As far as we were concerned. it was forgotten straight away within the club, but the incident made the papers which meant that people started to speculate about our relationship.

"But as far as the boss and I were concerned it was over, done and dusted."

Featured Image Credit: Sky Sport

Topics: Football, Roy Keane, Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United, Premier League, David Beckham

Chris Byfield

Sport journalist with experience writing on football, rugby, boxing and the Olympics. I'm also a Crystal Palace fan. Please don't hold this against me.