The fiery Irish midfielder, who was renowned for his incredibly short fuse, received seven red cards in 366 Premier League appearances, including this violent dismissal at St James’ Park.
It came during the last minute of the match, with United trailing to their Toon hosts during a thrilling encounter that finished 4-3.
Incensed at what he perceived to be time-wasting from Newcastle’s number nine, Keane launched the ball at Shearer from a throw-in before squaring up to him and throwing a punch at the England striker’s head.
He was immediately dismissed by the referee before attempting to fight Shearer on the pitch.
In an interview with YouTube chat show host The True Geordie, Shearer revisited the hilarious incident.
“It was funny because when he walked off the pitch, it was only the last minute or two of the game,” the Newcastle legend explained.
“He’d been given the red card and he was waiting for me at the top of the tunnel at St James’, we tried to get to each other but we couldn’t.
“It was like ‘hold me back, don’t hold me back’, but we couldn’t get to each other. It would have been interesting.”
Laughing, The True Geordie, real name Brian Davis, said: “Personally, I think you would have knocked him out.”
“Of course I would have,” Shearer replied.
Fortunately, the pair have since reconciled their differences, even appearing as pundits together on TV in the past couple of season.
