‘No regrets’ – Keane, Saipan and the story of a lifetime

Stephen Watson was aware of his career’s significance when he was only two words and three syllables away.

Any word from the Manchester United midfielder’s mouth would make the stuff of global headlines because the BBC Sport NI presenter had not witnessed Roy Keane in a particularly talkative mood in Saipan airport on the eve of the 2002 Fifa World Cup. However, given the furore roiling around the Republic of Ireland captain, the word would be in the air.

The Cork native’s sincere opinions on his nation’s preparations for the tournament in Japan and South Korea had sparked a week-long saga and provided the biggest update on the build-up to the biggest sporting event in the world.

It became clear that the chances of a thawing of the frosty relationship with manager Mick McCarthy were remote. One minute he was heading home, the next he was staying, but with just one utterance into Watson’s microphone as Keane waited for his unanticipatedly early return flight.

How did Keane feel about the series of events that had caused him to leave what ought to have been his most significant event?

He assured Watson, “I don’t have any regrets.”

The troubled relationship between Keane and his international boss dates back when they were team-mates, as the program, which explores how journalists broke their most memorable stories, reveals.

Watson recalls how Keane’s complaints, which the team had arrived in Saipan without enough kits or footballs, would develop into “something that actually sticks and becomes a major problem or just a storm in a teacup.”

The fallout, which has become one of Irish sporting history’s most notorious events, was soon made clear, and it will become the subject of an upcoming film starring Steve Coogan, a two-time Oscar nominee, more than 20 years later.

Keane had to leave on his own accord, and he would continue playing until the tournament’s conclusion.

After joining BBC NI, Watson claims to be “still finding his feet” in his new position but soon was thrust into a sizable sporting story that would play out across a virtual 24-hour news cycle.

He recalls the first assignment as a chance to try and get to know the players from the Republic of Ireland because he didn’t know as many of them as the players from Northern Ireland.

The most crucial relationship is at work, I believe. It’s crucial to develop friendships with sporting stars, but as it turned out, it didn’t really matter when the Roy Keane story broke.

When the Republic of Ireland team and the majority of the press pack left for Japan, Watson admits he “took a gamble” on his instincts to stay put.

“It’s as if Roy Keane’s staying here, I’m staying here,” I thought.

If we could arrange for an interview with him, that would be even better. “There was even the slightest chance that we could get some pictures of him.”

When Keane left the backseat of the team hotel to head home and begin his journey home, Watson and a few other photographers mistakenly believed they had missed their chance, so they followed in a waiting van.

We believed we had missed him, so there was a growing tension within that van. We suddenly saw [Keane] in a white van very close to the airport, and we were euphoric,” Watson recalls.

“Roy figured out that he had been rumbled when he jumped out of the van, and then, I believe, all hell broke loose.” The flashing appeared center, right, and left.

When I told the cameraman to go ask him some questions, he responded with four, five, and six questions, but Keane never looked away or even looked at me.

Watson tried again with the player’s brief responses as Keane waited in line for security and “grabbed” the player’s “gold dust” in his pursuit.

Even though it was a brief interview, Roy Keane’s statement was going to be powerful, he continues.

Indeed, the quotes quickly spread far and wide.

The Republic of Ireland’s tournament was obscured by the Keane saga. No regrets were reportedly written on the team’s dressing room wall as they reached the tournament’s last 16.