I was fined £100,000 by Mike Ashley and had ‘nowhere to go’ at Newcastle United
Alan Pardew has opened up about the “expensive” headbutt that cost him £100,000 at Newcastle United.
In 2014, the former Toon boss sent shockwaves around the world by confronting Hull City midfielder David Meyler. The incident had a lasting impact on Newcastle - with one Japanese fan revealing Pardew’s antics were the reason why he began supporting the club during last summer’s pre-season tour.
Pardew received a record seven-game ban from the FA as well as a £60,000 fine on top of his Newcastle deduction. A strongly worded club statement condemned the headbutt - which saw Meyler refuse to press charges.
Newcastle were leading 3-1 when Pardew lost his cool, going on to win 4-1 against Steve Bruce’s side. The moment of madness is now viewed comically by supporters and remains synonymous with the 63-year-old’s time at St James’ Park.
Speaking to talkSPORT, ex-United manager Pardew opened up about the costly mistake 11 years on. He said: “Meyler sucked me in there, he was very clever. He kicked me as the ball was running out of play and then on the way back I was giving him a few verbals and he sort of came towards me and I put my head into his head.
“It wasn’t actually a headbutt but when you look at the footage but the media went mental, I had nowhere to go. I accepted the charge and Mike Ashley fined me £100,000 straight away to make a stance on it – and that was without the fine from the FA.
“It was an expensive situation and I served my time. To be fair, it was a situation where I should have done a lot better than I did. We were winning the game. We were 3-1 up I think at the time so it wasn’t like I was seething mad.”