'I'm Ipswich fan who clashed with Roy Keane twice in car park row - he's no role model'
Neil Finbow was one of the Ipswich fans exchanging words with former manager Roy Keane as the pundit approached the stands after Manchester United's draw at Portman Road
by Tom Victor · The MirrorOne of the Ipswich Town fans confronted by Roy Keane says the pundit walked away from the confrontation before returning to make comments about seeing one of them in the car park.
Following Manchester United's draw at Ipswich Town on Sunday night, Neil Finbow, 55, can be seen among a group of supporters at the front of the stand as Keane exchanges words with them and appears to mention waiting for one in the car park. Keane, who captained United in his playing days, didn't leave Portman Road on the best of terms after a short stint as manager between 2009 and 2011.
Season ticket holder Finbow, who has been following the team since 1974, told Mirror Football he doesn't know the identity of the other individuals seen exchanging words with Keane. However, he claims one of the others was upset at how Keane behaved around his children during that managerial spell.
Finbow sympathised a little with Keane in Sunday's incident, while suggesting it was nothing compared to the notorious mid-90s incident involving United star Eric Cantona and a Crystal Palace fan. However, he spoke about the pent-up frustrations from those in the stands... while making it clear he doesn't consider Keane to be the best of role models.
"It was the guy in the middle's comments that got him, I think," Finbow says. "He was going on about his time when he was manager, how he treated his kids.
"I will sort of defend Roy Keane here as well, because it may be that the comment 'I'll see you in the car park' is to talk to the guy rather than take him out, so it can be misconstrued. I thought he was being quite aggressive, in hindsight.
"The guy had an issue, when [Keane] was at the club, when you see him point he was pointing to 'when you were here in the car park, you ignored my kids and swore at them', and he had an issue with that. So obviously that's been pent-up."
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Finbow was at the match with his 83-year-old mother and 21-year-old son. He says he used to stand on a crate to watch Ipswich when he was a child, during the glory years under Bobby Robson in the 70s and 80s, and still goes down to clap the players off after a good performance.
"I don't have any regrets [about going down the front]," he adds. "It's pent-up anger. No swear words came out of my mouth, I just said 'you're a better pundit than you are a manager'.
"I played football, not at that level, and you get comments on a football pitch and you just have to let them ride, don't you. I spoke to my friends this morning and they said it's all gone viral, that's not what I want. I'm not worried about that. But it's not the Eric Cantona kung-fu kick is it.
"That guy got banned for life for throwing some atrocious stuff at Eric Cantona, but those sarcastic comments from myself and the guy who had an issue from years ago about his kids... I think we pay a lot of money to go down there, our hard-earned cash, and I've watched some dross. I think it was just pent-up inside."
He says the clip circulating on social media was from the second altercation between Keane and the fans. "The clip where he's saying 'the car park' is the second time he comes over," he says. "He comes over and listens to the guy, goes back, comes over. Jamie Redknapp doesn't pull him away but he's talking to him to come back... and that's basically it."
Finbow admits he's worried the incident could have repercussions for his season ticket, but has pledged to fight his corner. "Everyone I sit with knows what I'm like," he adds. "I'm in the family bit there, I've been there for years. I do worry about my season ticket, someone has put on there that it could affect it, but I don't think I've been abusive or anything. If people class that as abuse then it's just gone mad.
"I want my side to be heard, that it was more sarcasm than anything. To be fair, he's provoked it by coming over, hasn't he? I was actually saying 'calm down, Roy', funnily enough, which I've been telling a lot of my friends to do this morning."
Reflecting on the incident, he suggests other ex-players and managers have received far worse abuse and not reacted. And, while Keane's stint at Portman Road left some fans with less-than-fond memories, it isn't the only reason for some of the animosity.
"The only other thing, I'll say this now, is Roy Keane as a player was a fantastic player, but as a human being, in football I think he's one of the worst," Finbow added. "He's wrote in his autobiography that he's deliberately gone out to end someone's [Alf-Inge Haaland] career, which doesn't help him when he comes to Portman Road and the youths have got to look up to him.
"And he walked out on the World Cup, didn't he. That wasn't just Ipswich Town with me, it was just this is the person himself, they're role models to kids, and I don't think he's the ideal role model."
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