Man Utd legend Keane reveals why Sir Alex Ferguson banned him from Christmas party

Manchester United legend Roy Keane has revealed why he was once banned from a Red Devils Christmas party by Sir Alex Ferguson.

Keane won seven Premier League titles at United under Sir Alex in a 13-year stay at Old Trafford, and is widely considered to be the competition’s greatest ever captain.

But things weren’t always rosy between the pair, and Keane revealed on the Stick to Football podcast that he once “had a Christmas party by myself” after the manager told his teammates they would be fined if caught drinking with him.

Keane said: “I got banned from the Manchester United Christmas party one year. I must’ve been injured, and the reserve team were having a night out and I went out with them and I think there was a bit of bother in Manchester.

“The first team lads were going out a couple days later and Sir Alex Ferguson came in, in front of everyone, and said that if anyone was seen drinking with me that day, they would get fined. The players were worried about getting fined by the manager, so I ended up going out by myself – I had a Christmas party by myself.”

Fellow pundit Ian Wright recalled his time at Arsenal around the Christmas period often involved players getting themselves suspended on purpose so that they could spend the holidays with their families.

“There were quite a few players at Arsenal that got accused of purposely getting themselves suspended around Christmas. I can’t name any names, but they were suspiciously suspended around that time.

“What I used to love about it when I had to go to Arsenal, obviously coming from South London all the way up, the roads were just bare, and it was lovely. You’d arrive at the ground with all the lads and everything’s nice, then you’d have to go back home and then may have to come back to go into a hotel for Boxing Day, which is something that people don’t have sympathy for. For players, especially those with a young family, people don’t understand why he’s leaving.”

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