Five Premier league teammates who absolutely despised each other

Teams are like families. Anyone that has been involved at an elite level of a team sport tends to have a similar opinion. But like every family, brothers fight, and sometimes those skirmishes have long-lasting implications.

Premier League teams are no different, and teammates actively hating each other is not uncommon. Here are the top five teammate rivalries in EPL history.

1. Steven Gerrard and El Hadji Diouf (Liverpool)

One is a club legend, the other cost £10 million and only scored six times in 80 games – there’s only really going to be one winner here. Diouf had a notoriously bad attitude and brought that to Liverpool in 2002. For whatever reason, Diouf had no time for captain Steven Gerrard, and actively disrespected the Kop legend. In a preseason game, the pair had a bust-up in the changing room, and apparently the Senegalese striker told Gerrard that he would sleep with his mother.

Diouf hasn’t stopped since, and claimed Gerrard "killed Liverpool", "achieved nothing for England", and "was jealous of him."

Gerrard would later write in his autobiography that Diouf was the person he liked least out of all his Liverpool teammates, and best buddy Jamie Carragher chipped in to add that Diouf was the worst footballer he ever played with.

2. Andy Cole and Teddy Sheringham (Manchester United)

One of the stranger feuds has been bubbling for more than 25 years now, despite the pair winning a historic treble together with Manchester United. Wind the clock back to 1995 and Andy Cole made his debut for England, coming on as a substitute in front of 60,000 fans. Teddy Sheringham was the player making way, and he snubbed Cole – declining the obligatory high five or pat on the back. Cole never forgot.

The pair were then teammates from 1997 to 2001 at Manchester United, playing together 99 times, but apparently they never spoke. The feud ran so deep neither man took the opportunity to make amends and so they continued to be enemies, despite the silverware.

Andy Cole would say after he retired that he’d rather sit down and have a cup of tea with Neil Ruddock – the man who broke his leg in two places in a crunching tackle in 1996 – than he would with Sheringham.

3. Roy Keane and Peter Schmeichel (Manchester United)

Let's stay with Man United and two of the club’s fieriest characters. Already not exactly best pals, this feud appears to have ignited in 1997 when Roy Keane was given the captain’s armband ahead of Schmeichel, despite the fact the goalkeeper was the more senior player.

Early in that season though, Keane suffered a severe knee injury and Schmeichel took over as captain. At the start of the 1998-99 season when Keane returned, the Great Dane had to hand the armband back to the Irishman, which only heightened tensions.

In a preseason tour of Asia after a few too many pints, it came to blows as Keane and Schmeichel brawled in the hotel. Club legend Bobby Charlton was woken up by the noise and teammate Nicky Butt had to step in to separate them. Schmeichel had a black eye and Keane bruised his hand.

It didn’t matter too much, as thy went on to win the treble that same year, but the rivalry still bubbles away. Keane said recently that he thought Schmeichel was overrated, and that he would have nothing to say if the pair met now. The keeper took some pot shots at Keane’s managerial record, claiming the former United captain was never a leader.

4. Kieron Dyer and Lee Bowyer (Newcastle)

Finally, some fists being thrown on the pitch! Newcastle were already losing at home to Aston Villa and down to 10 men when Lee Bowyer and Kiera Dyer decided to get stuck into each other. Apparently frustrated that Dyer wouldn’t pass him the ball, Bowyer called out his Newcastle teammate. Dyer essentially replied by telling Bowyer the reason he wasn’t passing to him is because he is s***.

You can imagine how well that went down, especially considering Bowyer had a violent off-the-field history and head been arrested several times for violent incidents.

Bowyer lost his head and started throwing punches at Dyer, who tried to land a few himself as St James’ Park watched on. Both men got sent off, and were on the end of three-game bans, while Bowyer had to pay a club-record fine of £210k.

5. Craig Bellamy and John Arne Riise (Liverpool)

Back in 2007 Liverpool had a crunch European Cup tie looming with Barcelona. To relax the players ahead of the game, the team went to the Algarve to try to decompress. But it didn’t go according to plan. One evening, Welsh striker Craig Bellamy fired up the karaoke and encouraged defender Riise to get up and sing.

Riise told him to shut up before he "smashed him", prompting Bellamy to threaten to kill him. Riise left the party and went to bed, but soon woke up as Bellamy came in wielding a golf club. Swinging the iron, Bellamy connected a few times with Riise’s hip and thigh as he aimed for the shins, reportedly shouting,"‘I don’t care if I go to jail, I’ll do you."

Incredibly, the next morning at breakfast neither man raised the incident. Bellamy not only scored in the 2-1 win against Barca, he celebrated by swinging an imaginary golf club, and then set up the second goal scored by none other than John Arne Riise.

Madness.

Bellamy admitted it was stupid bullying behaviour that he regrets in hindsight.