Team-mates, not mates
In everyday life, there will be people we come across and have to work alongside that we will not get along with. Sport is the same, it happens, and when it does it’s often broadcast on TV for the world to see.
From fights on the football pitch in front of thousands of fans, to bitter feuds on and off the racing track and widely-publicised affairs, sportspeople often provide added drama for fans to lap up.
We look at five of the best (worst?) feuds between sporting team-mates.
5. Eyal Berkovic v John Hartson
Training ground bust-ups are usually kept in-house and dealt with swiftly and discretely by the club in question.
But when West Ham’s Eyal Berkovic reacted badly to a tackle by big John Hartson by punching the Scotsman in the leg. John Hartson took matters into his own feet, so to speak, and delivered a kick an MMA fighter would be proud of to the head of Berkovic, sending him back down to the ground.
As the incident was caught on camera and shared for the world to see, the FA were able to take action against the Welsh striker and charge him – the first player to be punished for misconduct in a training ground indecent.
4. Lee Bowyer v Keiron Dyer
Lee Bowyer and Kieron Dyer decided the best place to scrap about the latter not passing the ball was in front of 50,000 fans at St. James’ Park while they were losing 3-0 to Aston Villa.
It took Villa captain Gareth Barry, aided by Newcastle’s Stephen Carr, to break the pair up as they traded punches in the middle of the pitch.
Both of the England internationals were subsequently red carded by the referee and trooped off with ripped shirts. With Stephen Taylor sent off earlier in the game, it left the hosts with just nine men.
The TV cameras caught a brilliant shot of the two fighters sitting either side of the fuming Magpies boss Graeme Souness like naughty school kids.
On top of the automatic three-game ban for seeing red, Bowyer was additionally fined £30,00 and given an additional three-game ban and he was further punished by Newcastle for throwing the first punch as they fined him six weeks wages.
No.3 Wayne Bridge v John Terry
Footballers are infamous for their womanising ways, but not many make the mistake of cheating with the partner of a team-mate.
However, that’s exactly what Chelsea skipper John Terry did with Vanessa Perroncel after she and Wayne Bridge split up.
Although the couple weren’t technically an item anymore, Terry’s conduct damaged his career with both the Blues and England.
The defender used a super-injunction to try and stop the news from coming out, but it was lifted by the courts and the newspapers jumped at the opportunity to carry lurid details of his affair.
Bridge left the club and joined Manchester City, in 2010, and City beat Chelsea in the first home defeat of the season.
But the headlines were made before the game had kicked off as because Bridge refused to acknowledge England team-mate Terry in the routine pre-match handshakes.
Bridge subsequently moved to West Ham but again refused to shake Terry’s hand when they played Chelsea.
No.2 Bill Romanowski v Marcus Williams
The NFL is known for its tough players and hard-hitting tackles, but in 2003 Oakland Raiders line-backer Bill Romanowski ended team-mate Marcus Williams’ career by removing his helmet and punching him in the face for “holding him in a drill”.
Williams sued Romanowski for battery, negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The assault left him with a broken eye socket, concussion, double vision, and – he claimed in his lawsuit – depression and memory issues.
Two years after the incident, the case was settled, with Romanowski ordered to pay $40,000 in medical expenses and $300,000 in damages to Williams.
As this incident took place in training there isn’t any official footage of the career ending punch, but here is a clip of the tough tackler breaking an opponent’s jaw:
No.1 Lewis Hamilton v Nico Rosberg
Formula One, described as an ‘individual’ team sport, has brought fans some of the most entertaining feuds between team-mates.
Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg have been together at Mercedes since the 2013 season and have provided their fair share of dramatic incidents.
Their rivalry began at the Bahrain GP in 2012, when Rosberg was referred to the stewards for driving Hamilton – then with McLaren – off the track as he defended his racing line.
The following year at the Malaysian GP, Hamilton earned his first victory for his new team Mercedes. This was aided by team orders to Rosberg who was told to “Hold station behind in fourth” to allow his team-mate to win.
After the race, Hamilton said “If I’m honest, I feel Nico should be standing here.”
In 2014, another three incidents between the two drivers fuelled the feud. First, Rosberg’s dubious qualifying crash in Monaco stopped Hamilton from setting a faster lap time.
In Hungary, Hamilton ignoring team orders to let Rosberg overtake him, and in Belgium, Hamilton accused Rosberg of deliberately colliding with him, resulting in a puncture.
More chapters have been added to the feud between the former karting buddies this season.
At the Spanish Grand Prix, the pair were so intent on outdoing each other at the start that they collided and both crashed out.
The Canadian GP saw Hamilton start aggressively, trying to bully Rosberg out of the way. As Hamilton barged through he made contact with Rosberg’s car and forced him on to the grass which resulted in the German only finishing fifth while the British driver went on to win.
The most recent spat in the on-going rivalry came in Austria, with the Mercedes duo on the final lap and on course for a first and second place.
But when Hamilton decided to make a late bid for victory, Rosberg was not in the mood to let him and tried to nudge Hamilton out the way. In doing so, the German was handed a penalty, surrendering the lead and a podium finish as he subsequently finished in fourth place.
He may get the last laugh this season, though, with time running out for Hamilton to overhaul him in the race for the drivers’ championship.