A former crew-mate opened up on the rift he had with Roy Keane and the sort means through which it was mended
Roy Keane and Jason McAteer performed alongside one another for Ireland(Image: Getty Images)
Former Republic of Ireland worldwide Jason McAteer has disclosed that Roy Keane’s gesture of settling his cafe invoice, following two decades of silence between them, left him deeply moved. The two ex-footballers endured a strained relationship after Keane’s notorious fallout at the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea, dubbed the ‘Saipan incident’, the place the previous Liverpool participant and Keane have been worldwide colleagues.
The contentious confrontation witnessed Keane and crew boss Mick McCarthy famously lock horns, with the ex-Manchester United midfielder subsequently departing the competitors early.
Several months later, Keane and McAteer confronted one another within the Premier League when Sunderland took on United. The duo exchanged loads of verbals all through the match, with Keane finally hanging out with an elbow and receiving his marching orders.
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Appearing on The Late Late Show, the previous Bolton winger shared a touching account of how the notoriously powerful midfielder quietly repaired their broken relationship via a form act after years of animosity.
“Everyone fell out with Roy,” McAteer jokingly informed host Patrick Kielty. “It wasn’t just me. We fell out, you know, the infamous Saipan incident. Me and him had gone through our Irish careers together as we’re similar ages, then there was the Man United/ Liverpool thing where we didn’t get on and then we got older, and we patched it up a little bit.
“Then the Saipan incident occurred and we correct fell out. Then we had an incident on the pitch the place United got here to Sunderland and we had an enormous struggle in the course of the pitch.
“For 20 years, we actually didn’t speak. And we would bump into each other. I bumped into him at Wembley. I held the door open and he just walked through.
“He did say ‘thanks’ however he correct blanked me. I’d see him on planes and at varied totally different locations and he would stroll previous me like he’d by no means met me on the street. I was a bit bit gutted however I was sort of thought, ‘Well, if you are going to deal with me like that, I’m going to deal with you a similar’.
“So, when he’d said something in the press, derogatory about me, I’d go back at him and it was like that for 20 years. My wife wanted to go for a cup of coffee after the school run and I said, ‘Come on, we’ll go’, This is only last year, so we go in and he’s in there with his family and I’m like, ‘Oh god’.
“Anyway, he does not let on to me and I go across the nook simply to get out of the best way and ten minutes later he will get up and walks out with the household. Then 20 minutes later I requested for the invoice. The waitress comes over and she says, ‘Your invoice’s been paid’ and I stated, ‘Who’s paid the invoice?’ and she stated, ‘Roy’s paid your invoice’ and I received actually upset and I’m getting emotional now fascinated about it.
“I just thought, ‘We’ve wasted 20 years’, and he’s gone and bought me breakfast 20 years later, what a time to do it. When I left, I rang Jamie Carragher as he does the [Stick to Football] podcast with him and I said, ‘Roy has gone and paid my bill in the cafe after 20 years, to hold out an olive branch. Will you just ring him and ask him if I can have his number and I want to say thank you’.
“An hour later, he [Carragher] rang me again and stated, ‘Roy appreciates the thanks however you are not having his cellphone quantity.”
In an interview with Four Four Two in April 2025, McAteer shared his views on the notoriously prickly former Republic of Ireland captain. “As a participant, Roy was completely sensational. As an individual, he’s very complicated. There are two sides to him,” he stated.
“I see the pantomime villain that he performs on tv, and that fits him – individuals prefer it, there is a demand for it. But I’ve additionally seen the emotional facet, the humorous facet, and I like that character.”
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