Former Newcastle United midfielder Kieron Dyer has revealed the circumstances which led to his bizarre bust-up with team-mate Lee Bowyer in a match against Aston Villa.
Not long after Gareth Barry had scored his second penalty of the game to put Villa 3-0 up at St James’ Park in a Premier League clash in 2005, Bowyer made a beeline for Dyer and the pair began trading blows.
Both players were subsequently sent off to compound the Magpies’ misery as they ended the game with eight men.
And Dyer, whose new book 'Old Too Soon, Smart Too Late: My Story' is published on February 22, explained exactly how the fight came to take place.
“I could see him marching towards me, eyes bulging. Graeme Souness was shouting ‘don’t do it’ from the touchline but Lee Bowyer kept on coming.
“I grabbed him by the shoulders and the neck to keep him off me and then he started raining in punches. It was like slow motion.
When the punches were hitting me in the head, I was thinking: ‘I cannot believe he is hitting me in front of 52,000 people. What the f*** is he thinking?’
“I was trying to let him punch himself out. I thought it was just going to be handbags. It’s the kind of thing that might happen in training but not in a match. No one in their right mind would do that — but Bow had lost his mind. I think he hit me four times.
“The punches didn’t hurt but by the time the fourth punch came in, I thought ‘f*** this’ and launched one back at him. Gareth Barry rushed in to restrain Bow and drag him away.
“Bow’s shirt was ripped down to his chest and he was still snarling and snapping and trying to get himself free. I was relatively calm, but “I looked over at Bow again and he was frothing and raging.
“I didn’t realise that you could get sent off for fighting your team-mate. The referee came over and showed me the red card. Then he sent Bow off, too. The crowd had been on our case because we were 3-0 down at home to Aston Villa.
“His whole demeanour changed. He had gone and I knew he had gone. I’d always got on well with him. I still do. The media have portrayed him in a certain way, and sure, he had his moments.
“But Frank Lampard had his moments, too, and people say he was the perfect role model. It helps that Frank fulfilled his potential and that he was an unbelievable player. That encourages people to forget his past misdemeanours.
“Bow did have a nasty temper. He was quite laid back in many ways, but once he went, he really went. Sometimes, he boiled over, and when he did, you just had to stand back and watch the show.”