Back in 2005, in a Premier League match between Newcastle United and Aston Villa, Lee Bowyer and Kieron Dyer were sent off for an on-pitch scuffle that saw punches thrown by both players.
The incident would have been forgotten had it not been for one unusual factor: both Bowyer and Dyer were playing for Newcastle.
Here’s a reminder of the events that led to that infamous moment…
The season
Newcastle began the 2004-05 season looking to improve upon a fifth-place league finish, with manager Bobby Robson starting his sixth term in charge and new signing Patrick Kluivert looking to add goals alongside Alan Shearer.
By April 2005, Graeme Souness was manager, neither Kluivert nor anyone else felt much like scoring, and the club, languishing in 10th, seemed unlikely to qualify for Europe.
It’s fair to say that things hadn’t gone to plan.
Having taken seven points from their last three matches, a home fixture against 11th-placed Aston Villa on April 2 at least gave the Magpies a chance to put breathing space between themselves and the bottom half of the table.
The match
Things didn’t start well. Newcastle’s defence of Stephen Carr, Jean-Alain Boumsong, Andy O’Brien and Aaron Hughes was breached when Juan Pablo Angel struck a fifth-minute goal.
An evenly contested match followed that early strike, and Newcastle were perhaps unlucky not to be awarded a penalty, but things went from bad to worse in the 73rd minute.
No, not the fight.
This incident actually involved defender Steven Taylor, who would go on to pepper his career with such moments.
Villa’s Darius Vassell rounded Shay Given and took aim at the goal, which was at this point protected only by Taylor.
Happy 33rd birthday to former Newcastle United defender Steven Taylor.
Who can forget when the poor bloke was struck on the side whilst keeping Aston Villa at bay? pic.twitter.com/w7tVhiMXEz— When Football Was Better (@FootballInT80s) January 23, 2019
After making a blindingly obvious handball to stop Vassell’s effort, Taylor dramatically grasped his abdomen as though winded, or perhaps shot, in an attempt to fool referee Barry Knight.
It didn’t work. Taylor was shown red, Gareth Barry converted the resulting penalty, and Villa were safe.
Seven minutes later, Barry netted his second penalty of the match, putting Villa 3-0 up and heaping further misery on the home fans inside St James’ Park. But things were about to get even worse..
The on-pitch scuffle
The frustration of the match…
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