Lee Bowyer blames 'a moment of madness' for 2005 on-pitch Newcastle bust-up with Kieron DyerThe hard-hitting central midfielder says that he is still friends with Dyer despite coming to blows during a 3-0 loss to Aston Villa almost a decade ago
Gareth Barry has to hold the furious Lee Bowyer back
Lee Bowyer has revealed his will to win matches for Newcastle United boiled over into a “moment of madness” and prompted him to trade blows with Kieron Dyer in front of a packed St James’ Park.
The midfielder has been speaking in-depth with the Chronicle about his time on Tyneside and while Geordie supporters still have good memories of the tough tackling former Leeds United man, Bowyer admits passions bubbled over as the game slipped away from the Magpies in a 3-0 loss to Aston Villa back in 2005.
This week, Dyer gave his version of events but Bowyer confirmed to us that he was still friends with the ex-England international, as reported in ChronicleLive.
He told the Chronicle: “It was a moment of madness.
“Everybody regretted it afterwards. But we are winners.
“When you play football you have to be that way.
“You have to want to win. Sometimes it goes to far – that’s what happened that day.
“I’m sure if we’d been winning 3-0 it would never have happened.”
And Bowyer insisted that there were no hard feelings and the pair have since teamed up to play golf to raise money for Sir Bobby Robson’s charity.
Bowyer shakes hands with Dyer in pubic after they made up
He said: “We were all trying to pull in the same direction and it was just a moment of madness.
“Kieron’s a nice lad and I still see him.
“I saw him at Sir Bobby’s golf day and we had a beer and a laugh.”
After the infamous incident Graeme Souness offered to fight both players in the dressing room.
But Bowyer admits he always had admiration for one of football’s genuine hard men.
He said: “He done well.
“He bought the passion and the fight back. If you didn’t give that he would let you know.
“He was different to Al (Shearer) and to Bobby, he would let you know.
“He would tell you how unhappy he was. He wouldn’t let you rest on that.
“Every day in training it was about hard work, playing together as a team and supporting each other.
“That was the way he played himself.
“He didn’t let anybody go below that.”
