Roy Keane prevented Andy Cole from punching Teddy Sheringham, the striker explained.
Sheringham and Cole were part of Manchester United’s treble-winning side in 1999 and alongside Dwight Yorke and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, they terrorised defences in England and across Europe.
However, Cole and Sheringham famously did not see eye to eye, something the former Newcastle man put down to a falling-out when they were together with the England national team.
He told Sky Bet: “It all started when I made my England debut and for whatever reason he snubbed me and didn’t shake my hand on my debut.
"I was disappointed. As far as I’m concerned, you’re a senior professional and I remember I’ve always watched England play when someone’s making their debut and whoever comes off makes a massive beeline to that individual to wish them all the best. Naturally, I was cheesed off, but I got my head down.”
The antagonism persisted when Sheringham replaced Eric Cantona in 1997, with Cole explaining: “When he joined Manchester United, I thought okay, I’ll get on with it. I remember the first day of pre-season, the boys couldn’t stop laughing at me because they knew the situation.
"I’ve come in pre-season, we’re playing a game, and he tried to coach me into position, and I thought, I’ve been at Manchester United for a while now, I know what I’m doing.
“That happened and I let him know that he shouldn’t try and coach me into position because I’ve been at Manchester United and been successful at this football club.”
He then revealed what happened to make tempers boil over emphatically.
“The final straw for me was in a game against Bolton, I remember drawing 1-1 at Old Trafford, they scored a late goal and he said to me that it was my fault,” Cole said.
“I said to myself, okay, let’s just get to full-time. Usually, I’m one of the last off the pitch but that day I was one of the first off the pitch. I ran down the tunnel and waited for him to come in.
"We had a little bit of a set-to and I’ve just about copped my arm back and then peacemaker [Roy Keane] came in for thirty seconds and turned it on his head. He tried to break it up then got involved himself.”
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