EXCLUSIVE
‘Brucey bullied me!’ – Nicky Butt sees the funny side of Steve Bruce row that saw him fined £78k for ‘being crap’
Nicky Butt has lifted the lid on his famous blow-up with Steve Bruce after he 'spat his dummy out' at Birmingham.
The Manchester United legend came up through the youth ranks at Old Trafford before joining Newcastle in 2004.
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However in 2006 he joined the Blues where he was reunited with a fellow United icon in Steve Bruce.
Butt's time at St Andrew's didn't go all that smoothly, with fans criticising him early on during his spell in the Midlands.
Such were the level of his performances, Bruce decided to drop the midfielder altogether from his matchday squad for a Monday night clash with West Ham.
Not only was he dropped, but he was replaced by Bruce's son, Alex.
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Taking exception to the decision, Butt stormed out of the team hotel in a show of frustration.
That led to the ex-United man - Birmingham's highest paid player at the time - being fined two weeks wages which totalled the grand sum of £75,000.
Discussing the incident at the time, Bruce said: "The incident upset me because it's out of character for Nicky.
"I honestly believe that. We have spent a lot of time together. But I cannot have any player of mine acting in the way he did.
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"There would be anarchy in the dressing-room if people carried on like that every time I made a decision that they had taken exception to.
"I'm paid to make decisions and I made one. I stand by it.
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"What hurt was the lack of respect shown both to me and his team-mates.
"Obviously, I shall be talking to him in the next 24 hours, once the dust has settled, and asking for an explanation."
As a result, Butt was forced to apologise for his actions, saying in a statement: "After being told I was not to be a part of the West Ham game I made a decision I regret, a decision I made on the spur of the moment and while I was feeling totally dejected.
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"It was the wrong decision and unacceptable.
"I would like to apologise unreservedly to the manager, coaching staff, team-mates and fans for my actions."
Fast-forward more than 18 years and Bruce and Butt appeared together on talkSPORT Drive as they recalled the dispute.
Asked if they ever fought at Birmingham, Bruce told talkSPORT: “No! Not really.
"He spat his dummy out once or twice!”
Butt responded: “Brucey bullied me!
“No, but seriously, when you’re a player and you’re playing crap like I was at the time you look for someone to blame and I blamed Brucey rather than look at myself.
“I spat my dummy out, like he said, but I’ve known Brucey since I was 14 years of age and I’m lucky that we sat down, I apologised and we moved on so it was over quickly.”
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While Bruce enjoyed a long career in management after the incident, Butt enjoyed a brief career in coaching at United before becoming part of the group to own Salford City.
Now the club's chief executive, Butt is responsible for managing every member of staff at the League Two club as they look to continue their rise up the EFL.
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