Keane reveals reason behind his explosive exit from United

LONDON: Roy Keane has revealed the “only reason” he left Manchester United is because he appealed the £5,000 (RM21,000) fine slapped on him following his infamous MUTV rant.

The Red Devils’ former skipper left Old Trafford in acrimonious circumstances after publicly criticising some of his teammates in 2005.

Following a 4-1 defeat to Middlesbrough, the Irishman named and shamed players he thought were not putting in enough effort in an explosive interview which was never aired.

It has always been believed Alex Ferguson kicked him out of the club because of what he said to United’s in-house TV station.

But Keane revealed the Scot actually cut short his time at Old Trafford because he appealed the £5,000 fine he received.

The 46-year-old told the Limerick Leader: “The only reason I ended up leaving Man United was I appealed a £5,000 fine.

“If I hadn’t appealed the fine I wouldn’t have left Man United.

“Don’t be brainwashed by the propaganda and lies. It is peanuts, you get fined that for being late for training at United.

“Have I stepped out of line? Damn right I have. “Man United fined me about £500,000 over my career but that is because I was sent off and I always held my hands up.

“Ironically when I appealed a £5,000 fine that’s when I left the club.

“I wished they played this video – it is propaganda: ‘We had to destroy it’.

“How do you even destroy a video?

“I left with my head held up high, I was fine with my actions, I always felt my intentions were to do the best for Man United.

“I appealed because I felt I shouldn’t have been fined for speaking about a match on the club station.”

Keane won six league titles at United – four as club captain, which was a record equalled by John Terry this summer.

He left the club by mutual consent in December 2005 and joined Celtic.