Tunnel brawl with Dennis Wise left Roy Keane with head wound and four stitches

Roy Keane was once left needing four stitches in his head following a half-time tunnel brawl with Dennis Wise during Chelsea’s trip to Old Trafford in 1997

09:30, 04 Feb 2024

Roy Keane was left needing stitches following a half-time brawl with Dennis Wise(Image: ExpressStar)

Roy Keane needed four stitches in his head after a half-time tunnel brawl involving Dennis Wise.

During Chelsea’s 2-2 draw away at Manchester United in September 1997, two of the hardest Premier League players came to blows in the Old Trafford tunnel. A Henning Berg own goal put the Blues ahead just before the half hour mark, but a contentious Paul Scholes equaliser before the break saw the temperature rise.

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A stormy night in Manchester gave way to a fierce battle that continued off the pitch at half-time. Scholes’ leveller was met with fury by Chelsea boss Ruud Gullit who berated linesman Phil Joslin, turning up the heat further.

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As the players headed to their respective dressing rooms at the end of the first 45, the opposing centre midfielders came to blows as a fracas in the tunnel left Keane requiring four stitches behind his ear, with the Irishman, Wise and Uruguayan Gus Poyet said to be in the meat of things.

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Police admitted there was a scuffle as they stepped in to divide the warring players, while referee Gary Willard completely missed the bust-up as he was the last man off the pitch at the end of the half.

Can you remember this game? Let us know in the comments section.

Wise also required stitches during the game(Image: Bob Thomas Sports Photography via Getty Images)

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All evidence from TV cameras point to Keane requiring the stitches due to an off-the-field incident, with no occurrence spotted during the game that could have caused such an injury to him. While Wise needed three stitches from a facial injury believed to have been caused in an incident on the pitch.

Speaking about the brawl, Sir Alex Ferguson admitted: "Players from both sides were lucky to stay on the pitch" and accused Chelsea of trying to intimidate the officials, such as Gullit’s behaviour after Scholes’ goal. But referee Willard claimed there was "nothing to get excited about", despite being over 20 yards away from the scrap.

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Argument between Roberto Di Matteo and Roy Keane

Roy Keane, Dennis Wise and Gus Poyet were no strangers to each other(Image: Colorsport/REX/Shutterstock)

However, the incident wasn’t in isolation, as with the scores level at 2-2 just minutes after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer netted United’s second equaliser of the game, six players were shown yellow cards, including Keane and Wise, in another flash point just before the full-time whistle.