Of former Manchester United strike partner Teddy Sheringham (left), Andy Cole (right) tells The Independent, “I would rather sit down and have a cuppa with Neil Ruddock, who broke my leg in two places in 1996,” than Sheringham, “whom I’ve detested for 15 years.” It seems the animus between the two stems from Cole’s England debut as a substitute for Cole against Uruguay in 1996.
I walk on to the pitch, 60,000 or so watching. Sheringham is coming off. I expect a brief handshake, a “Good luck, Coley”, something. I am ready to shake. He snubs me. He actively snubs me, for no reason I was ever aware of then or since. He walks off. I don’t even know the bloke so he can’t have any issue with me. We’re fellow England players, it is my debut and he snubs me.
You know what my immediate thoughts were? “Jesus Christ! How many people just saw Teddy Sheringham do that to me?” I was embarrassed. I was confused. And there you have it. From that moment on, I knew Sheringham was not for me.
Two years later, in summer 1997, after Eric Cantona left United, Sheringham arrived. We played together for years. We scored a lot of goals. I never spoke a single word to him.