It’s the 20th anniversary of one of the Premier League’s most shocking moments | OneFootball

Today marks 20 years since one of the Premier League’s most shocking moments.

On this day in 2005, tempers erupted between Newcastle teammates Lee Bowyer and Kieron Dyer, who were sent off for fighting each other.

A miserable afternoon for Newcastle United saw the Magpies trailing 3-0 at home to Aston Villa. Graeme Souness’ side had already had a man sent off after Steven Taylor’s deliberate handball, despite the defender’s comical and Oscar-worthy insistence that he’d been struck in the chest.

Few at St James’ Park were laughing moments later, when a disagreement between Bowyer and Dyer exploded into a full-blown punch-up.

Stephen Carr and Aston Villa midfielder did their best to split the moment of madness from the Magpies’ midfielders, who were both dismissed for violent conduct. The duo were forced to apologise in a post-match press conference.

Explaining the fight in his autobiography, Dyer said: “I could see him marching towards me, eyes bulging.

“Graeme Souness was shouting ‘don’t do it’ from the touchline but Lee Bowyer kept on coming.

“I grabbed him by the shoulders and the neck to keep him off me and then he started raining in punches.

“It was like slow motion. When the punches were hitting me in the head, I was thinking, ‘I cannot believe he is hitting me in front of 52,000 people. What the f*** is he thinking?’

“I was trying to let him punch himself out. I thought it was just going to be handbags. It’s the kind of thing that might happen in training, but not in a match. No one in their right mind would do that – but Bow had lost his mind.

“I think he hit me four times. The punches didn’t hurt, but by the time the fourth punch came in, I thought ‘f*** this’ and launched one back at him.”

An unforgettable moment for all the wrong reasons.

Read – Six infamous bust-ups between teammates

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