Roy Keane recalls the time he chased a referee around Old Trafford

Roy Keane has recalled the time he chased former referee Andy D'Urso around Old Trafford.

Back in January 2000, during a clash between Manchester United and Middlesbrough at Old Trafford, D'Urso was involved in one of the more memorable moments in Premier League history.

With the game tied at 0-0, the Billericay-born official controversially gave the away side a penalty when United defender Jaap Stam collided with Brazilian forward Juninho.

Moments later, Stam, Nicky Butt, David Beckham, Ryan Giggs and Dennis Irwin surrounded D'Urso before a furious Roy Keane barged past his teammates to confront the referee.

Image credit: Alamy

Juninho proceeded to miss from 12 yards and United went on to secure all three points thanks to an 87th-minute winner from David Beckham.

But that incident involving Keane and D'Urso continues to be the biggest talking point from that clash. In fact, Keane recently opened up on the moment during an episode of The Overlap.

You can check it out below.

After Gary Neville says his former teammate never put his hand on an official in an aggressive way, Keane responded: "I didn't think it was that bad at the time, you think you're just fighting your corner, and then you look and you go.

"I think some of them [the photos] were edited. No I swear, I swear on my children's lives. I'm right up next to him, I didn't think we were that close.

"Yeah of course I was [photoshopped]. And do you know who's behind it? Ferguson!"

Image credit: The Overlap/YouTube

Keane went on to apologise for his actions at the time. "We went over the top," he said. "Obviously we shouldn`t react like that. We regret it and it won't happen again. I promise you that.

"Footballers are under a lot of pressures, but dealing with it is part of the job. It's not right that we have a go at referees like that.

"As a captain I should be setting a better example. To go chasing the referee was wrong.

"We went over the top and the manager has had a word with us. At the time we thought nothing of it. We just thought it was a bad decision, and I`ve seen the incident on television and I still think the referee was wrong."

Image credit: Alamy

He added: "But obviously we shouldn't have reacted like that, although if he had stood still I don't think we would have chased him. He kept running and we kept chasing."

Topics: Roy Keane, Manchester United, Premier League, Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher

Jack Kenmare

Senior Journalist at SPORTbible with a passion for long-form journalism. Almost 10 years’ experience across online and print.

@jackkenmare_