A note sent to the press following Roy Keane’s Manchester United exit has reemerged 20 years on from the infamous day.
Keane spent 12 years at Manchester United, having arrived from Nottingham Forest in 1993. His time at United coincided with the club winning 17 major honours, including seven Premier League titles, four FA Cups, and one Champions League.
The Irishman captained the side for eight years from 1997 to 2005, but his time at Old Trafford ultimately ended under a cloud.
On November 18, 2005, Keane and United reached an agreement to part ways with immediate effect before the midfielder later signed for Celtic ahead of his 2006 retirement.
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Around three weeks before he left United, the Red Devils were beaten 4-1 by Middlesbrough away from home, although Keane never featured in the game.
Back then, United’s players took part in a segment named ‘plays the pundit’ on the club’s internal media platform MUTV.
Despite no one ever seeing the footage, then-United boss Sir Alex Ferguson and then-chief executive David Gill did not allow the video to air.
It was claimed that Keane's critique homed in on a number of his teammates, including Rio Ferdinand, who was at fault for Boro’s second goal.
Keane was fined £5,000 and never played for United again.
On Tuesday (November 18), BBC Sport’s Simon Stone looked back on the incident and dug out the press release he received back then.
The note includes quotes from Keane, Ferguson, and Gill and states the club’s thanks for the Irishman’s contributions in a United shirt.
But was what Keane said actually worthy of the fallout?
In 2022, the Mirror published the alleged rant in full.
On Ferdinand, Keane allegedly said: “I have seen that happen to Rio before [after Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink robbed Ferdinand for the second goal]. It is poor defending.
"Just because you are paid £120,000 a week and play well for 20 minutes against Tottenham, you think you are a superstar."
He then supposedly added: "I can't understand why people in Scotland rave about Darren Fletcher."
A number of youth players also came under fire.
In his autobiography, Ferguson gave his side of the story.
"He criticised his team-mates," said Ferguson.
"We could not release that video. It ended up with two young players being booed in Paris [against Lille] on Wednesday.
"The meeting in the room was horrendous. I just could not lose my control in that situation. If I had let it pass, I think the players would have viewed me differently.
"Throughout my career, I have been strong enough to deal with issues like that.
"Roy absolutely overstepped the line. There was nothing else we could do."
Both Keane and Ferguson are still not the best of friends 20 years later, with the former suggesting that he’d be willing to meet up with the Scot if he apologises for bad-mouthing him first.
Topics: Roy Keane, Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson, Football, Premier League, Rio Ferdinand
Luke Davies