In April 2005 one of the most bizarre and embarrassing incidents in Newcastle United's history occurred at St James' Park - when Magpies teammates Lee Bowyer (pictured above, right) and Kieron Dyer (pictured above, left) were both sent-off... for fighting each other! Dyer refused to pass to Bowyer, who then walked up to his fellow midfielder and the pair starting trading blows - forcing Newcastle's Stephen Carr and Nicky Butt, as well as Villa's Gareth Barry, to break them up. With Steven Taylor also dismissed for handling on the line, Newcastle finished the game with just eight men and were soundly beaten 3-0 - leading manager Graeme Souness (pictured above, centre) to bring his two midfielders out to publicly apologise and reconcile with one another. As if this incident wasn't enough to make the pair villains on Tyneside, both have also had many other controversies during their career. Bowyer, for example, while at Leeds United was accused of a racially-motivated assault on an Asian student - although he was acquitted of the charges - while Dyer allegedly initially refusing to take to the field from the bench to play on the right-wing before reluctantly doing so for manager Sir Bobby Robson, something that led to the latter's dismissal. Neither will ever truly be forgiven in Newcastle for their various misdemeanours, that's for certain.
NUFC editor for WhatCulture.com/NUFC. History graduate (University of Edinburgh) and NCTJ-trained journalist. I love sports, hopelessly following Newcastle United and Newcastle Falcons. My pastimes include watching and attending sports matches religiously, reading spy books and sampling ales.
