Roy Keane breaks silence over confrontation with irate Ipswich Town fan

Roy Keane has broken his silence following a confrontation with a fan of Ipswich Town, a team the former football once managed.

The one-time Manchester United and Republic of Ireland star said he was not looking for a fight when offering to meet the irate fan in the car park after the game.

“I am not offering somebody out. I’m 53 years of age with five kids and two grandkids. I’m not looking for a fight,” Keane said of last month’s Portman Road incident.

Keane, who left Ipswich after a brief spell in charge more than a decade ago and is now a Sky Sports pundit, was speaking on The Overlap podcast.

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“I went over to him twice – I said, ‘No problem, if you want to abuse me or if you want a discussion with me, well I’m working’. I went over to him twice at different stages and he was swearing in front of kids," he said.

Keane offered to meet the fan in the car park, but claimed it was simply because that would be the natural place to continue the conversation.

He said: “I wasn’t angry! I was calm. I went over to the guy twice... what happens when we do matches, they send us down after the game and fans can be up and down, emotional. People think they can abuse you and it seems to be we’re supposed to accept that.

“I went over twice and said, ‘No problem. If you want to abuse me or have a go at me, but I’m working’.

“He’s swearing in front of kids. I said, ‘If you want to see my afterwards, I’ll see you in the car park’.

“But I’ll ask you a question, where else was I going to see him? They were obviously asked to meet the lounge. ‘I’ll meet you at McDonalds’? No, I’ll meet him in the car park.”

Sky Sports did not take any action against Keane following the confrontation during Ipswich Town’s meeting with Manchester United.

The fan, Neil Finbow, claims to have told Keane that he ‘set us back five years and ruined our football club’ following his tenure between 2010 and 2011.