- Ashley Williams was involved in an infamous clash with Robin Van Persie in 2012
- The ex-Swansea man apologized to the Dutchman, who told him to ‘fuck off’
- No one will be fooled by the nature of Man United’s performances this season IAKO
Former Swansea defender Ashley Williams has revealed he has apologized to ex-Man United striker Robin van Persie after a controversial incident between the two in 2012, after which the Dutchman told him to ‘f*** off’.
Late in the second half of the match – which finished 1-1 at the Liberty Stadium – Van Persie was fouled by Nathan Dyer just outside Swansea’s penalty area, with referee Michael Oliver blowing his whistle and awarding United a free-kick.
The then Swansea captain – who was standing just above him – then decided to kick the ball straight at the former Arsenal striker, hitting his head at point-blank range, leading to angry scenes as Van Persie and several other team-mates from United protested with Williams.
A fight ensued when Van Persie grabbed Williams’ shirt before being shown a yellow card for his behaviour, while Williams was also shown a yellow card after the incident in the 74th minute of the match.
Then United boss Sir Alex Ferguson was furious after the match, demanding Williams be banned and saying he ‘could have killed’ Van Persie.
Ashley Williams has revealed Robin van Persie told him to ‘f*** off’ after an incident in 2012
Williams came under fire during Swansea’s match against United for kicking the ball at the Dutchman’s head
The ex-Swansea captain was verbally abused for his actions, with both players shown yellow cards after a fight
Your browser does not support iframes.
Williams spoke about the controversial moment the Stretford paddock podcast that he did not mean to hit Van Persie on the head with the ball.
“I knew it wasn’t okay, I didn’t really mean it,” he said. “I’ve said it so many times, the ball rolled, his head was there – and it was like ‘oh’. I had no problems with him in the game, no problems with him before I thought he was a great player.
“He wasn’t someone I didn’t like. I didn’t mean to hit his head, but I was surprised when I hit it. And then I thought, “oh damn, I hit his head, he’s furious.”
Williams then said he tried to apologize for his actions in the reverse fixture at Old Trafford – which the Red Devils won 2-1 – but revealed the Dutchman was having none of it.
‘After the [first] I was like, ‘whatever,'” he continued. ‘The next time I played against him the ball was on the other side and I thought, ‘Sorry about that, I didn’t mean it’. And he said “f*** off”. And I was like, “noise.” I would react the same way.’
Sir Alex Ferguson was furious after the incident, but Williams insisted he did not mean to hit Van Persie
Sir Alex didn’t hold back in his post-match press conference at the time, saying: ‘It was absolutely deliberate. The whistle blew, the game stopped and he did it right in front of the referee: he could have killed the boy. It was a disgraceful act.”
However, striker Wayne Rooney had tried to play down the situation.
He said: ‘It’s one of those things. The whistle has disappeared, the defender has run away and the ball has hit his head. I think this is probably the right decision by the referee.”
And Williams boss Michael Laudrup was unhappy with Sir Alex’s terminology, adding: ‘There were a lot of players there and I didn’t see it. I don’t think Ferguson meant to literally kill him. Things happen in a game.”