The Best Teammate Fights in History - Ranked

Lee Bowyer & Kieron Dyer got into a fight while playing for Newcastle
Lee Bowyer & Kieron Dyer got into a fight while playing for Newcastle / Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images
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Sure, we all like watching highlight reels of banging goals, but some of the best moments in football are when tempers start flaring.

Frustrations are usually directed towards opponents and can range from a cynical foul to a full-blown fight, but sometimes teammates can find themselves in the firing line of one of their peers, and those moments make for some of the craziest you'll ever see.

Monday night saw Son Heung-min and Hugo Lloris separated by their teammates before their altercation got physical, but it could have been worse. So, so much worse...


10. Jens Lehmann vs Marcio Amoroso

Jens Lehmann loved a red card during his playing career
Jens Lehmann loved a red card during his playing career / Stuart Franklin/Getty Images

Kicking things off here is the most sent-off goalkeeper in Bundesliga history, Jens Lehmann.

Then with Borussia Dortmund in 2003, Lehmann stormed out of his goal to confront teammate Marcio Amoroso after conceding an 80th-minute goal against rivals Schalke, who took a 3-2 lead.

Lehmann squared up to Amoroso and was shown his second yellow card – not the biggest confrontation of all time, but what sets this apart is that the goal Lehmann was complaining about...got ruled out for offside. All for nothing.

9. Emmanuel Adebayor vs Nicklas Bendtner

Bendtner was left with a bloody nose after clashing with Adebayor
Bendtner was left with a bloody nose after clashing with Adebayor / Clive Mason/Getty Images

Arsenal's 5-1 loss to Tottenham Hotspur in the 2007/08 Carling Cup is one of the darkest days in club history, and Nicklas Bendtner didn't do much to help.

Late in the game, the Dane ended up clashing with Emmanuel Adebayor, and while reports of a headbutt have regularly been dismissed, Bendtner was left with a bloody shirt stemming from a cut on his nose.

He then went over to scream at William Gallas, and Spurs just laughed and laughed and laughed.

8. Steve McManaman vs Bruce Grobbelaar

Bruce Grobbelaar and Steve McManaman butted heads in a Merseyside derby in 1991 and they ended up throwing boots at each other in the changing room.

Just two years later, they were back at it again.

In 1993's derby, Grobbelaar looked like he wanted to eat McManaman alive, screaming at his Liverpool teammate before thrusting his hand into McManaman's face. Cue the handbags.

McManaman responded with what you might generously call an 'open-handed strike' and then just walked away. That was it. Ten seconds of madness.

7. Fernando Ricksen vs Vladislav Radimov

Fernando Ricksen during his time with Zenit
Fernando Ricksen during his time with Zenit / Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

One of the most volatile characters in football history, Dutchman Fernando Ricksen left Rangers for Zenit Saint Petersburg in 2006 in search of a fresh start, but then he met Zenit captain Vladislav Radimov.

Barely a month after joining, Ricksen and Radimov found themselves fighting during a match against Rostov, but remarkably, that's not even the incident which gets them on this list.

A few months later in January 2007, the pair were caught up in a huge brawl during a pre-season friendly against Malaga.

Plenty of punches were thrown and both players were sent off, and Zenit then forced the pair to come out and issue a public apology like a couple of naughty toddlers.

6. Graeme Le Saux vs David Batty

Graeme Le Saux and David Batty needed just four minutes of Blackburn's Champions League tie with Spartak Moscow in 1995 to get into a bizarre altercation.

The two England teammates collided while chasing the ball, and after both had said a few words on the subject, they decided to square up.

Le Saux threw a punch and was desperate to throw a second, but captain Tim Sherwood had to run in and separate the two, and they could still be seen screaming at each other from across the pitch for the rest of the game.

5. Uilian vs Fábio Júnior

Heading over to the lower leagues of Brazilian football, Amazonian side Plácido de Castro were thrashed 5-2 by Rio Branco in 2015, but the highlight was a brawl between teammates Uilian and Fábio Júnior.

Uilian, who had just been brought on as a sub, wasn't impressed with Fábio's role in Rio Branco's fifth goal and chose to voice his displeasure. Obviously, things didn't end well.

There were punches, knees and kicks as both players charged towards each other, and although none really connected, it was still crazy to watch as the whole Plácido team had to jump in and help.

4. Lee Bowyer vs Kieron Dyer

Bowyer & Dyer had to be separated
Bowyer & Dyer had to be separated / Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images

Probably the most high-profile incident, Newcastle United teammates Lee Bowyer and Kieron Dyer found themselves caught up in a memorable brawl in 2005.

Away from possession, Bowyer yelled at Dyer to complain about not receiving a pass, and that was all it took. Each player had a grip on the other's shirt as they threw punch after punch after punch.

Both were sent off by the referee and Bowyer had to be dragged away by Gareth Barry (who wasn't even his teammate), and the iconic image of Bowyer's ripped shirt will never be forgotten.

3. Titas Vitukynas vs Deividas Padaigis

Lithuanian side Dainava Alytus dissolved in 2014, but not before giving us the memorable clash between Titas Vitukynas and Deividas Padaigis in 2013.

A goal kick flew over the entire Dainava team and there looked to be nothing going on, only for the two players to exchange words and quickly face up, Then all hell broke loose.

Padaigis quickly threw a headbutt, which prompted 1,000 punches from Vitukynas, who was behind his teammate smacking him from pillar to post.

Both were sent off, which earned Padaigis a punch from another teammate, and Vitukynas looked possessed as he had to be restrained by both friends and the referee.

2. Stuart McCall vs Andy Myers

Bradford were thumped 6-1 by Leeds United in May 2001, and tempers boiled over when teammates Stuart McCall and Andy Myers collided shortly before half time.

Myers ended up throwing such a strong punch at club captain McCall was left needing stitches after picking up a nasty cut under his eye, and it could have been worse – McCall missing with a powerful headbutt.

Two weeks' wages were taken from both as a result of the incident, which then-chairman Geoffrey Richmond described as his "most embarrassing moment in football."

1. Craig Levein vs Graeme Hogg

Ah, friendly games. Always friendly. Everyone's always nice and happy. Well, apart from Craig Levein and Graeme Hogg.

The two Hearts teammates were 1-0 down to Raith Rovers in a pre-season game in 1994, and after nearly conceding a second, the pair came to blows. Hogg threw the first punch, but Levein had the last laugh.

Levein, who was team captain, managed to break Hogg's nose with a punch and left his teammate needing a stretcher to leave the field. While on that stretcher, Hogg was humiliatingly sent off alongside Levein.

Levein was given a 12-match ban and Hogg was suspended for ten. How's that for a good warm-up?


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