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

When Keane slipped out the back of what had been the team hotel to head for the airport and start his journey home, Watson and a few remaining photographers thought they had missed their chance but followed in a waiting van.

“There was a heightened tension within that van because we thought we’d missed him. Suddenly, very close to the airport, we saw [Keane] in a white van and we were euphoric,” Watson remembers.

“Roy knew that he’d been rumbled and he jumped out of the van and then all hell broke loose I suppose. The flashbulbs went off left, right and centre.

“I said to the cameraman we need to go and ask some questions and I fired off four, five, six questions and [Keane] never changed his gaze, he never even looked at me.”

As Keane waited in line for security, Watson tried again with the player’s brief answers that followed the “gold dust” he had chased.

“It was a short interview but anything said by Roy Keane was going to be powerful,” he adds.

Indeed it was with the quotes soon travelling far and wide.

The Keane saga cast a shadow of Republic of Ireland’s tournament. Reportedly written on the wall of the team’s dressing room as they reached the last 16 of the tournament…’no regrets’.

Watch ‘Hold the Front Page: Roy Keane in Saipan’ on Monday, 19 May at 22.40 BST on BBC One NI and BBC iPlayer.