Roy Keane has reignited his feud with Erling Haaland’s dad by suggesting he is soft – 25 years after the Irishman’s horror challenge on him.
Keane believes Alf-Inge Haaland would have gone down if he had been headbutted by Arsenal star Gabriel in their recent 2-1 loss to Manchester City – unlike his son Erling, who stayed on his feet.
Gabriel escaped with a yellow card and Haaland has been praised for his sportsmanship in staying on his feet despite the offence.
But Keane does not think his father would have extended the same courtesy. ‘His dad would have gone down!’ he quipped in the latest episode of the Stick to Football podcast.
Manchester United legend Keane was sent off for a nasty foul on Haaland during the derby in 2001, when he planted his studs into his opponent’s right knee.
He had seemingly been out for revenge against the Manchester City star because of an incident that took place in 1997, when Keane was accused of faking an injury after rupturing his ACL.
Roy Keane has reignited his feud with Erling Haaland’s father, Alf-Inge Haaland, by suggesting he would have gone down and ensured Gabriel was sent off after his headbutt on Sunday
Keane and Haaland (pictured in 1997) were involved in some bitter on-field clashes including this moment where Keane went down injured and felt Haaland sneered at him
Keane shouted down to Haaland: ‘Don’t ever stand over me again sneering about fake injuries.’
It was a woeful challenge which ultimately curtailed Haaland’s career. He made just four substitute appearances the following season before retiring.
The first major flashpoint in the rivalry came in September 1997, when Alf-Inge – then playing for Leeds – stood over Keane and accused him of feigning injury, when in fact, he had ruptured his cruciate ligament which would keep him out for the remainder of the season.
Keane was given a three-match ban and fined £5,000 by the FA for his retaliation in 2001. He was punished again the following year – when he was suspended for five further matches and hit with a £150,000 fine – after suggesting in his autobiography that he had meant to hurt Haaland.
As he wrote: ‘I’d waited long enough. I f***ing hit him hard. The ball was there (I think). Take that you c***.’
The feud has rumbled on ever since.
In 2021, Keane explained that he never had any regrets about the incident.
‘Can I tell you something, I have never regretted anything I have done on a football pitch, never,’ he told Micah Richards in SkyBet’s Road to Wembley segment in preparation for Euro 2020.
Keane (centre) saw red against Man City in 2001 for a vicious foul on Alf-Inge Haaland (left)
After the foul, Keane leaned over Haaland and angrily shouted at him as he lay on the floor
Keane, seen stamping on Gareth Southgate, was sent off 11 times during his playing career
Erling Haaland was praised for not going down when Gabriel lightly headbutted him on Sunday
‘I’ve been sent off and I’ve let my team down.’
When prompted by Richards on the infamous incident with Haaland, Keane began to offer his reasoning.
‘To me I was in the battle with people, I was in the middle of the park.’
Richards outlined that Keane did not mean to injure the Norwegian and the former United man agreed, insisting it was a case of hurting Haaland instead.
‘No, no of course,’ said Keane, before further elaborating: ‘Did I go to hurt players? Of course I did.
‘I’d never apologise for that. And people went to hurt me. I never, ever went out to injure a player in my life, [but] did I go out to hurt players? Course.
‘When you go for a ball in the middle of the park there’s a good chance that somebody is going to get hurt.’
A couple of years ago, he hit out at Haaland’s son Erling for his angry reaction to being substituted after scoring four goals against Wolves, calling him a ‘spoilt brat’.
Earlier that year, he had also criticised Haaland for being like a ‘League Two player’.
‘In front of goal he’s the best in the world, but his general play is so poor,’ he said. ‘He’s almost like a League Two player – that’s the way I look at him. His general play has to improve.’
