Football is a passionate game. Players will do whatever they can do to win – as such, if they feel their teammates aren’t playing to their highest standard, it can lead to some ugly scenes.
Today, we’ll be looking at something nobody ever wants to see – here are five times that Premier League teammates came to blows on the pitch.
We’ll only be looking at incidents that took place in Premier League games for this list. As such, training ground scuffles and altercations in other competitions will not be considered.
Idrissa Gueye vs Michael Keane
Let’s kick things off with an incident that took place very recently. In an away fixture against Manchester United, Everton’s Idrissa Gueye played the ball to Michael Keane, but the latter was not fully focused and failed to meet the pass.
Irritated at Keane’s complacency, he confronted the former Burnley man, eventually giving him a light slap around his face. There was little in it, but referee Tony Harrington had seen enough to give Gueye a red card. Despite this setback, the Toffees went on to win the game by a score of 1-0.
Andy Griffin vs Ricardo Fuller
Another case where a teammate gave one of his peers a shellacking for making a mistake, Ricardo Fuller completely lost the plot when Andy Griffin slipped and allowed West Ham United to score in a game in 2008.
The then-Stoke City man ran up to Griffin, screaming blue murder, before slapping the Potters captain across the face. His actions earned him a prompt red card – Griffin wasn’t without fault either, as Fuller claimed he had been ‘very rude and disrespectful’ towards him to provoke the slap.
Anwar El Ghazi vs Tyrone Mings
This one didn’t involve a sending off, but the tension was still present. Aston Villa captain Tyrone Mings took exception to Anwar El Ghazi’s unwillingness to track back and was sure to let the former Dutch international know about it.
Unfazed, El Ghazi squared up to Mings and met the confrontation with returned aggression. Thankfully, the two teammates were seperated before things could boil over and they apologised to each other in the dressing room at half time.
Bruce Grobbelaar vs Steve McManaman
Bruce Grobbelaar was known for his eccentricity and was a beloved figure at Liverpool – however, you certainly didn’t want to get on the Zimbabwean’s bad side. A young Steve McManaman made this mistake in 1993 when his scuffed clearance allowed Everton to open the scoring in a Merseyside Derby.
Grobbelaar immediately began to yell at McManaman, who shouted back at the veteran shot-stopper. This was a mistake, as Grobbelaar made a beeline for McManaman, grabbing him and shoving him in anger. McManaman pushed him back, but did not hang around for Grobbelaar’s retaliation.
Kieron Dyer vs Lee Bowyer
This is by far the most famous scuffle between teammates in Premier League history. Out of seemingly nowhere, Newcastle United teammates Kieron Dyer and Lee Bowyer seemed to abandon their game against Aston Villa to engage in an impromptu MMA contest.
They grabbed each other by the shirt, swinging wild haymakers at each other. It took players from both teams to seperate the pair – Bowyer’s shirt, in particular, had almost been ripped clean in half. Both Dyer and Bowyer were sent off – Dyer received a three match ban, while Bowyer was suspended for seven.