West Ham defender George McCartney just wants to fit in, I guess. While on international duty this week with Northern Ireland, McCartney added to his club's burgeoning reputation as Bad Boys Inc., as the Guardian's The Fiver football email calls the Hammers. McCartney and winger Keith Gillespie tussled on the team's flight back from Iceland after the Northern Ireland side lost 2-1 to Iceland on an own goal by Gillespie. The Belfast Telegraph reported that the dispute was over a passport -- I can't figure out what that could possibly mean. The United Kingdom is not part of the Schengen Agreement that allows travel across many European borders without a passport, so both players needed to bring their passports along. Did one player leave his back at the hotel, necessitating a delay? Who knows.
McCartney rejoined the Northern Ireland side after about two years away. The Belfast Telegraph said the exile came from McCartney's refusal to play for former national manager Lawrie Sanchez, who is now the head man at Fulham. Gillespie, meanwhile, is the most experienced player on the national team, earning his 57th cap in Wednesday's match. Another interesting twist to this story is that Gillespie plays for Sheffield United. McCartney's refusal to play under Sanchez and his club both could have added fuel to whatever dispute developed between the two.
McCartney joins three of his club teammates in having notable disputes with teammates. Lee Bowyer and Kieron Dyer, famously, were sent off while teammates at Newcastle two years ago. Bowyer struck the first blow on Dyer, who responded in kind. They say that they long ago patched things up. Craig Bellamy was accused of attacking John Arne Riise in February as the then Liverpool teammates were part of a night out during a training camp in Portugal. Bellamy was accused of hitting Riise's legs with a golf club, according to news accounts. That incident is part of why Bellamy is a Hammer today, I'm sure.
Bowyer, too, is infamous for his acquittal on criminal charges in a beating near a nightclub that involved one of his teammates when he played for Leeds United. I knew that he had played for Leeds, and I knew that the club has had a checkered history of late, but I learned a lot more about Bowyer and especially the club in a feature story in the September issue of FourFourTwo. I'm guessing that for fans who have been following the sport during this period, there wasn't a ton of new information, but I was fascinated by the narrative of Leeds United's fall from Champions League semifinalist to relegation to League One in the space of six years. I'm interested enough to read a good book on it, if one has been written.
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