Jermaine Jenas has declared that the infamous on-field fight between Kieron Dyer and Lee Bowyer was reflective of a “fiery” Newcastle United dressing room. In April 2005, a calamitous afternoon at St James’ Park saw an eight-man Magpies side lose 3-0 to Aston Villa.
If Steven Taylor’s comical red card for handling the ball on the goal line was not enough, two Toon players swinging at each other in frustration heightened the misery. Jenas, who had been substituted 20 minutes earlier, watched from the sidelines as Dyer and Bowyer - two of his closest friends at the club - went head-to-head.
Speaking to William Hill, the former Newcastle midfielder said: “I’d never experienced anything like that. The maddest thing about the whole thing was that every single morning we’d have round tables in our canteen and you’d have breakfast and lunch together.
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“Bobby (Robson) was very serious about the players eating together and we couldn’t leave without his say-so. On my table every day were me, Kieron (Dyer), Jonathan Woodgate, Lee Bowyer, and Bellers (Craig Bellamy). We’d sit there and eat and chat every single day and got on really well.”
Another ex-Newcastle star, Aaron Hughes, told The Athletic in 2020 that then manager Graeme Souness “wanted to fight” the duo in the dressing room at full-time. Jenas has revealed that a bust-up was brewing, and ultimately inevitable, due to the toxicity among the squad.
“It was just a moment of madness, to be honest," he added. "But our dressing room was fiery like that. At half-time, if things weren’t going well, it wasn’t like ‘let’s see what the manager has to say’, instead you’d have a player in your face telling you to sort yourself out.
“For Kieron, it was a real shame because it’s what he’s known for. Honestly, when he was on, he was one of the best players I ever played with.”
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