Alex Ferguson Banned Ruud van Nistelrooy From Roy Keane's Testimonial

Hal picked up his MA in Sports Journalism and NCTJ qualification from St Mary's University Twickenham, Hal has since been part of Valnet since late 2021.

He started as a freelance football writer for This Is Futbol and carried that on over to FootballFanCast before becoming their social media editor. He now works as an editor for GiveMeSport, predominantly focusing on Premier League, Champions League, and English football.

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Hal is an Arsenal and Three Lions fan, but keeps an eye on the All Blacks, his favourite rugby team, having grown up in New Zealand. Sign in to your GiveMeSport account For over a decade, Roy Keane was an absolutely vital cog in the Manchester United machine. His time at Old Trafford saw him win seven Premier League titles, four FA Cups, and the Champions League.

Iconic club manager Sir Alex Ferguson signed the Irishman from Nottingham Forest in 1993 and named him club captain after just four years. Together, they dominated English football but things ended on very bad terms.

Ever the outspoken character, Keane tore into a number of teammates in a club TV interview, which was not aired to the public. Ferguson was furious, and this was one of a few issues which ultimately led the midfielder to leave Old Trafford in November 2005.

Having spent 12 and a half years at Manchester United, Keane was naturally given a testimonial game to mark his exit from the club. However, manager Ferguson stopped one man from playing in the friendly fixture.

Sir Alex Ferguson came across some fine footballers in his career, and he put two British icons on Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi's level.

Ferguson's decision was not made because he necessarily had an issue with Keane, but rather with Ruud van Nistelrooy. Indeed, the Dutch forward's future had been the subject of intense speculation, and so was forbidden from playing in the testimonial.

As per Sky Sports' report at the time, Van Nistelrooy was deeply upset that United had taken their hostility out on him in this way, and deprived 'good friend' Keane of his presence on the Irishman's special night. The iconic club striker remarked:

"For me, it's painful. I wanted to respect Roy. I wasn't allowed to really so that is painful, that is the most painful thing.

"I spoke to him (Keane) and he'll be fine. That's it really.""

As per BBC Sport, Keane was disappointed his former team-mate missed the game. He said: "I spoke to Ruud. It was unfortunate and disappointing he wasn't here but everyone has their own path to go down.

"I don't think it is right for me to start commenting on Ruud's situation. But I did get on quite well with him and I do know there are two sides to every story. Maybe one day we will find out what happened.

"Ruud is still under contract to United and I wish him well."

With all the transfer speculation making headlines, Ferguson had also left Van Nistelrooy out of his team to face Charlton on the final day of the Premier League season. This robbed the striker of a final chance to say a proper goodbye to the Old Trafford faithful, as that would have been his final game for the club.

Having also not been able to play in Keane's testimonial, Van Nistelrooy's last match for Man Utd came in a 0-0 draw against Middlesbrough earlier in May. Speaking after the Charlton game, United boss Ferguson said:

"There have been a couple of issues during the week that concerned us in terms of the spirit of the club.

"On such an important day, I felt that Ruud should be left out. We will be discussing it with club directors."

Van Nistelrooy would join Real Madrid in July that summer, having scored 150 goals for the Red Devils in 219 games.