David Bernstein: ‘I’m appalled Roy Keane is still involved with football. It’s just not right’

The former Manchester City and English FA chairman says he turns off the TV every time Keane is on

Fri, 05 Mar, 2021 - 11:25

Stephen Barry

Former Manchester City chairman David Bernstein says he will never forgive or forget Roy Keane's horror tackle on Alf-Inge Haaland.

Bernstein, who also served as chairman of the English FA, says he is reminded of the incident every time Keane appears on TV and believes the former Manchester United captain should have been permanently thrown out of the game.

Keane received a three-match ban which was later extended by a further five games, with a £150,000 fine, when his first autobiography suggested the tackle had been a premeditated act of revenge on Haaland.

Manchester United skipper Roy Keane shouts at Manchester City's Alf-Inge Haaland after being shown a red card at Old Trafford in 2001.

“I’ve never forgotten it. From a personal point of view, that was the worst individual thing I’ve been directly involved in, and the worst I’ve ever seen on the pitch. As a human being, it was an awful thing to see,” Bernstein told The Athletic.

“Roy Keane stood over him and basically said, ‘Take that, you bastard’. It was done in cold blood.

“It was a cold-blooded incident. I have never forgiven Keane for that. I think, frankly, it’s dreadful he’s accepted in football the way he is. After doing something like that, I think it’s absolutely appalling.

“Whenever Keane turns up on television, I switch off. I just won’t watch it. I’m appalled that he’s still involved with football. It’s just not right.

“Things happen, injuries do happen, but to do it deliberately and admit it the way he did, to sell his book, I think is completely beyond the pale.”

Keane later argued his thoughts on the tackle had been interpreted by ghostwriter Eamon Dunphy. In his second book, written with Roddy Doyle, he insisted he hadn't gone out to injure Haaland.

"It was action; it was football. It was dog eat dog. I’ve kicked lots of players, and I know the difference between hurting somebody and injuring somebody. I didn’t go to injure Haaland.

"When you play sport, you know how to injure somebody. That’s why you see people on the pitch getting upset when they see a certain type of tackle; they know what the intention behind the tackle was.

"I don’t think any player who played against me and who I’ve had battles with – Patrick Vieira, the Arsenal players, the Chelsea lads – I don’t think any of them would say anything too bad about me. They’d say that I was nasty, and that I liked a battle, but I don’t think any of them would say that I was underhanded."