Rio Ferdinand revealed that Roy Keane almost lost his complete cool with one former Manchester United star at a Christmas party during the Sir Alex Ferguson era.
The 46-year-old former Manchester United defender played alongside Roy Keane at Old Trafford during the tail end of the Irishman’s legendary spell.
Rio Ferdinand arrived at the Premier League club in 2002 and United legend Keane was still club captain under former manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
Keane was known for his no-nonsense approach on and off the field and the Irish hardman excelled as United captain during his time at Old Trafford.
The 53-year-old former Red Devils midfielder ascended to the United captaincy in 1997 after club legend Eric Cantona announced his sudden retirement.
Keane famously captained United to an iconic continental treble win in the 1998-99 season and was a pivotal midfield figure under Ferguson at Old Trafford.
The ex-United skipper lifted seven Premier League titles, a Champions League trophy and four FA Cups before he was axed by Ferguson in 2005.
Ferdinand talks Keane and Man Utd party
Manchester United legend Roy Keane was well-known for his lifestyle off the pitch during his football career, including his drinking antics at the Red Devils.
However, the former Nottingham Forest star reeled in his drinking towards the later stages of his career and Keane has candidly talked about his habit as a player.
Rio Ferdinand has now opened up on one Christmas party that he attended during his time at Old Trafford and admitted that he would “never forget” one moment.
The TNT Sports pundit recalled that former United and England teammate Wes Brown irked Keane the wrong way by “trying to feed” him a drink.
Speaking on Rio Ferdinand Presents, Ferdinand said: “Wes Brown got carried out at midnight, or just before midnight.
“We were doing all day at a Christmas do and he got carried out. I’ll never forget [it].
“Wes was a funny drinker. I remember Roy Keane stopped drinking and we were out somewhere in Manchester and Wes kept trying to feed Roy a drink.
“You know Roy, he was like, ‘One more and I am going to put that over your head in a minute,’ that type of thing.
“Wes had to get told to move out [of] the way. That’s the problem with footballers and alcohol, it always goes wrong.”
Owen Hargreaves on drinking culture
Ferdinand’s former United and England teammate Owen Hargreaves also offered his two cents on players trying to drink while being professional footballers.
According to Owen Hargreaves, players “can’t really drink” due to their tight schedules with matches.
“Most of the guys can’t really drink because you have a game every three days,” he added.
“No disrespect, but if you play one game a week in the Premier League, you have two or three days when you can go mad.”
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