FOR most football clubs, July is all about welcoming new signings, building up match fitness and working on a little team spirit.But sometimes, pre-season can be anything but friendly.
Roy Keane and Peter Schmeichel famously scrapped after a boozy night on Man Utd’s pre-season tour of Hong Kong in 1997Credit: EMPICS Sport
From scraps on the pitch to blazing rows back at the team hotels, there have been plenty of unsavoury summer moments.
SunSport takes a look at some of the biggest flashpoints in pre-season history.
BLACK-EYED PETE
On the back of winning the 1996-97 Premier League title, Sir Alex Ferguson took his Manchester United squad to Hong Kong for pre-season.
But that summer isn’t remembered for the results, but the incredible hotel bust-up between two of the team’s biggest personalities and leaders: Roy Keane and Peter Schmeichel.
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The pair came to blows in a drunken haze, with Fergie later calling them both a “disgrace” after hearing about the bust-up from club legend Sir Bobby Charlton, who’d seen the whole thing.
In 2019, Keane – reflecting on Raheem Sterling’s scrap with Joe Gomez in England training – revealed: “From my own experience, I’ve had a fight with a player… Peter Schmeichel in a hotel.”
Years later, Keane went into more detail, adding: “We were on pre-season, drinking as usual until three or four in the morning.
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“I said something to Peter and he was waiting for me outside of the room.
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“I went back to Nicky Butt’s room for a club sandwich, really exciting stuff. There was no women or heroin, it was a club sandwich.
“I came out of the room and Peter’s waiting and he says ‘I’ve had enough of you!’… I remember thinking ‘you’ve had enough of me? Let’s get it on’.
“Obviously we had a fight. It seemed like ages, but I’m guessing it was like two or three minutes.”
It led to a hilarious morning-after – with Keane revealing he barely remembered the fight… until seeing Schmeichel’s black eye.
Keane continued: “The next morning, I’m rooming with Denis Irwin, we’re late for the bus. Denis Irwin is the most straight guy, I reckon he still goes to Mass every Sunday, so straight.
“Denis is going ‘Roy, we’re late’ and I’m saying ‘Denis, f***ing shut up will you. You’re giving me a headache’.
“We’re getting our bags ready, he’s shouting at me and my hand was really sore. I said to Denis ‘I’m sure I was fighting last night, but I can’t remember’.
“We get on the bus and Ferguson’s going mad. I get to the back of the bus and ask [Nicky Butt] what happened.
“I say ‘I vaguely remember, was I fighting with Peter?’ And Peter had glasses on and this is early in the morning.
“We land wherever we go on to. There’s a press conference and two players had to do it and it was me and Peter.
“Eventually Peter takes his glasses off and he’s got a bit of a black eye.
“Ferguson pulled us when we got back to Manchester; he was mad and said ‘the two of you are a disgrace to the club and you’re going to get fined’.
“He says Sir Bobby Charlton was on the same floor as us and said we were a disgrace. I was thinking ‘he could have broken the fight up!’”
Keane finished by saying: “To be fair to Peter, I’ll give him a little bit of credit, he said ‘gaffer, it was my fault, I was waiting for him’. So he took the fall for it and after that we were OK.
“It was good to get rid of that tension between us. It was a good fight.”
Keane and Schmeichel eventually made up after the Dane took the blame for the fightCredit: News Group Newspapers Ltd
JACK ATTACK
Just last summer, Jack Grealish was embroiled in huge pre-season bust-up against Club America.
The Manchester City and England star went down inside the penalty area expecting a spot kick to be given.
Mexico goalkeeping legend Guillermo Ochoa tried to drag Grealish back to his feet.
But the £100million winger was less than pleased, giving him a hefty shove for his troubles.
Grealish quickly found himself surrounded by almost the entire Club America XI, with Emilio Lara even appearing to throw a clenched fist at him.
Later in the match, the Three Lions ace was brutally hacked down again, leading to another – albeit smaller – scrap.
It goes down as one of the least friendly “friendlies” in pre-season history.
Jack Grealish scrapped with Guillermo Ochoa last yearCredit: Alamy
Grealish shoved Ochoa after he went down looking for a penaltyCredit: Alamy
GOT YER BACK, SON
Apparently there was something in the air in 2022, with blood shed during Tottenham’s pre-season clash with Sevilla in South Korea.
In the game, home hero Son Heung-min caught Gonzalo Montiel with a stray elbow, leaving the Argentine ace with blood dripping from his face.
Montiel had been in feisty mood during the first half, even diving recklessly into Ryan Sessegnon.
As Montiel flew into Son, he was left with a bloodied mouth and bruised ego after being caught by his arm.
The Sevilla man confronted Son as the teams trudged back to the dressing rooms for half-time – with Richarlison rushing in to defend his fellow forward.
One TV replay even appeared to show the Brazilian – who’d only joined the club days earlier – aiming a punch at Alejandro Gomez.
Another angle proved it was in self-defence, however…
Son Heung-min caught Gonzalo Montiel with his elbow leading to a huge scrapCredit: AFP
Richarlison rushed in to provide some back-up to his team-mate, SonCredit: CBS Sports
DOU WANT SOME?
And completing the hat-trick in a truly filthy 2022 is a former Arsenal star.
During Marseille’s “friendly” with Real Betis in Chesterfield, for some reason, Matteo Guendouzi was caught up in a heated scrap.
The score was 1-1 after Rodri Sanchez cancelled out Marseille ace Arkadiusz Milik’s opener.
And it was in the third minute of added time when Guendouzi and Joaquin came face to face.
Andres Guardado escalated the situation when he pulled the France international’s hair.
And that led to players from both teams swarming to back-up their man.
After the game, Guardado stuck the knife in by posing in a wig on Instagram, captioning his post: “You make me hesitate to wear long hair.”
Matteo Guendouzi was involved in a massive pre-season scrap as Marseille took on Real Betis in 2022Credit: Twitter
WOLF SMACK
Let’s just all agree that 2022 was a total mess, shall we?
Another from 12 months ago, Wolves’ clash with Levante descended into total and utter chaos.
Bizarrely for a so-called “friendly”, FOUR players were sent-off in the first half.
Bruno Lage’s side took on the LaLiga side in Benidorm as part of their pre-season warm-ups.
The touchpaper was lit in the 34th minute when Wolves ace Yerson Mosquera took an almighty whack from Enis Bardhi while running down the wing.
The Colombian reacted angrily to the challenge in front of the Levante bench, with a melee quickly breaking out.
More than 20 players, including substitutes from both benches, rushed to get involved, with handbags galore.
Mosquera and Bardhi were both shown red cards by the referee for their roles in the ugly incident.
Wolves’ pre-season friendly with Levante descends into chaos with four players sent off after two mass brawls
Wolves and Levante descended into total chaos with four players sent off across two major incidents in the first-half aloneCredit: YouTube
The Levante players, who had already put in some aggressive challenges, wouldn’t let the issue lie and surrounded the referee.
Play didn’t continue until the 40th minute and it wouldn’t be long before another flashpoint.
After a tangle of legs off the ball led to a Levante player being floored, another ruckus broke out a minute before half time.
Once again players scrapped with each other, with the referee a mere bystander as hordes of stars from both teams sprinted over to get involved.
Daniel Podence was shown a red card, as well as another Levante player for their part in the shambolic scenes.
As the clock hit 45 minutes the referee blew for half-time, completely ignoring the idea of restarting the game to play any stoppage time.
FANDEMONIUM
It’s not the players that can get a bit carried away in pre-season, though.
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This year’s summer warm-ups led to a bizarre scrap between Portsmouth and Bognor Regis fans.
During the 1-1 draw, fans were spotted throwing haymakers at each other before security finally intervened and broke it up. More
