‘What happens on the pitch’ – Martin Keown and Ruud van Nistelrooy settle 22-year feud live on TV
Martin Keown and Ruud van Nistelrooy have settled a feud that dates back 22 years. The two former Premier League stars were involved in one of the most infamous incidents in top-flight history in 2003. Keown vs Van Nistelrooy is one of the most iconic moments in Premier League historyGetty Images - Getty But the feud has finally been settledTNT Sports Van Nistelrooy missed a last-minute penalty for Manchester United in a 0-0 draw with Arsenal, sparking a wild reaction from Keown and a mass brawl. It became known as the ‘Battle of Old Trafford’ and came to symbolise one of the fiercest rivalries in English football. These days, Van Nistelrooy is in charge of Premier League strugglers Leicester, while Keown is a prolific pundit for talkSPORT and other broadcasters. Before the meeting of Leicester and Arsenal on Saturday, the pair were reunited for Van Nistelrooy’s pre-match interview on TNT Sports. And it resulted in the following exchange… Keown and Van Nistelrooy settle feud Van Nistelrooy: “Martin, you OK? Good to see you.” Keown: “Nice to see you after all these years.” Van Nistelrooy: “Likewise. It’s been a while.” “I saw you once at Villa Park, you remember?” Keown: “Yes, apologies for all of the shenanigans that went on back in the day.” Van Nistelrooy: “What happens on the pitch stays on the pitch.” Keown: “I thought you were going to stamp on me when you came out.” Van Nistelrooy: “It was a good rivalry, wasn’t it?” Keown: “Great days. I am glad you are standing there and not next to me because you used to love stamping on me.” Van Nistelrooy: “I liked to block you out and fall over as well.” Keown: “Great memories.” Arsenal would finish the 2003/24 campaign as the first ‘Invicible’ team in Premier League history, making the ‘Battle of Old Trafford’ eternally significant. The Gunners were fined £275,000 for their role in the incident – and Keown has always held Van Nistelrooy responsible for starting it. Speaking on talkSPORT in 2021, Keown said: “You have to go back all the way to Patrick Vieira being sent off. “Van Nistelrooy feigns injury, you could say it was cheating, he goes down and Vieira gets sent off. “Then after that, it was like the Alamo, because they saw they had a chance to win the game. They had a penalty, which you could argue wasn’t a penalty, which I am involved in. Keown has always doubled-down on his belief that Van Nistelrooy started itNews Group Newspapers Ltd View Tweet: https://twitter.com/lynseyhipgrave1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw “There was a few fingers pointed from my teammates, but he misses and then of course, he is the figure of hate really. “We were only in that position we feel, because he got one of our colleagues sent off.” Keown previously revealed he had immediately tried to smooth things over with Van Nistelrooy – but with little success. “Immediately afterwards, I think it was an FA Cup game, I went to shake his hand and he cowered a bit,” Keown recalled in 2021. “But I said I was apologising, he tried to sort of back away! But I shook his hand and I said, ‘Don’t take it personal!” It only took 22 years – but it seems as though Keown and Van Nistelrooy have finally let bygones be bygones.
Martin Keown and Ruud van Nistelrooy have settled a feud that dates back 22 years.
The two former Premier League stars were involved in one of the most infamous incidents in top-flight history in 2003.
Van Nistelrooy missed a last-minute penalty for Manchester United in a 0-0 draw with Arsenal, sparking a wild reaction from Keown and a mass brawl.
It became known as the ‘Battle of Old Trafford’ and came to symbolise one of the fiercest rivalries in English football.
These days, Van Nistelrooy is in charge of Premier League strugglers Leicester, while Keown is a prolific pundit for talkSPORT and other broadcasters.
Before the meeting of Leicester and Arsenal on Saturday, the pair were reunited for Van Nistelrooy’s pre-match interview on TNT Sports.
And it resulted in the following exchange…
Keown and Van Nistelrooy settle feud
Van Nistelrooy: “Martin, you OK? Good to see you.”
Keown: “Nice to see you after all these years.”
Van Nistelrooy: “Likewise. It’s been a while.”
“I saw you once at Villa Park, you remember?”
Keown: “Yes, apologies for all of the shenanigans that went on back in the day.”
Van Nistelrooy: “What happens on the pitch stays on the pitch.”
Keown: “I thought you were going to stamp on me when you came out.”
Van Nistelrooy: “It was a good rivalry, wasn’t it?”
Keown: “Great days. I am glad you are standing there and not next to me because you used to love stamping on me.”
Van Nistelrooy: “I liked to block you out and fall over as well.”
Keown: “Great memories.”
Arsenal would finish the 2003/24 campaign as the first ‘Invicible’ team in Premier League history, making the ‘Battle of Old Trafford’ eternally significant.
The Gunners were fined £275,000 for their role in the incident – and Keown has always held Van Nistelrooy responsible for starting it.
Speaking on talkSPORT in 2021, Keown said: “You have to go back all the way to Patrick Vieira being sent off.
“Van Nistelrooy feigns injury, you could say it was cheating, he goes down and Vieira gets sent off.
“Then after that, it was like the Alamo, because they saw they had a chance to win the game. They had a penalty, which you could argue wasn’t a penalty, which I am involved in.
“There was a few fingers pointed from my teammates, but he misses and then of course, he is the figure of hate really.
“We were only in that position we feel, because he got one of our colleagues sent off.”
Keown previously revealed he had immediately tried to smooth things over with Van Nistelrooy – but with little success.
“Immediately afterwards, I think it was an FA Cup game, I went to shake his hand and he cowered a bit,” Keown recalled in 2021.
“But I said I was apologising, he tried to sort of back away! But I shook his hand and I said, ‘Don’t take it personal!”
It only took 22 years – but it seems as though Keown and Van Nistelrooy have finally let bygones be bygones.
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