Awkward moment – Roy Keane called Adam Virgo out at Celtic

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The Celtic Star

·18 April 2025

Awkward moment – Roy Keane called Adam Virgo out at Celtic

Adam Virgo has revealed that when both he and Roy Keane were at Celtic Park, the Irishman called the defender out for putting him in an awkward situation…

08.07.2007. Photo imago/Geisser – Adam Virgo (Celtic Glasgow)

Car run classic

Roy Keane had not long since signed for the Hoops and lived nearby Adam Virgo, so the two ended up car sharing, although it led to a telling off from the former Manchester United captain when Virgo picked him up with his other half in the car too.

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Roy Keane of Celtic runs onto the pitch for the Scottish Premier league soccer match against Kilmarnock at Celtic Park January 14, 2006. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

Gordon Strachan moved to sign the veteran midfielder when it was clear that his time under Alex Ferguson was over at Old Trafford, following a dispute in which the club’s skipper criticised his teammates on the television, in the aftermath to a poor display against Middlesbrough. With his time in Manchester over, Strachan offered him the chance to fulfil a lifetime ambition by pulling on the green and white shirt.

08.07.2007. Photo imago/Geisser – Adam Virgo (Celtic Glasgow)

Adam Virgo tells the story on the Under The Cosh podcast

Virgo though, recounted being on the receiving end of a Keane barrage, when the former Brighton man picked him up with his missus in the same car en-route to Paradise. Speaking on the Under The Cosh podcast, the Englishman explained what happened.

“So he came in in January and he lived around the corner from me, I actually got to know him quite well. I didn’t have his number but he texted me and said, ‘It’s Roy here. Can you pick me up and we’ll go to the game together on the Saturday?’

Roy Keane of Celtic shouts to his team mates during the Scottish Premier League match between Rangers and Celtic at Ibrox Stadium on February 12, 2006. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

“So I picked him up, and I asked my missus at the time to sit in the back. He jumps in the car, sits in the front, we drive all the way there and nothing’s really said. Then on the Monday, he goes, ‘Can I have a word with you?’.

‘Don’t ever pick me up again with your missus in the car’

And he literally went, ‘Don’t ever pick me up again with your missus in the car.’ I thought he was winding me up. But he went, ‘No, no, don’t ever do that again.’ It was a really weird thing.”

Celtic’s Roy Keane looks for passing options during the 1-1 draw with Hibernian at Celtic Park, Glasgow,16 April 2006, in the Scottish Premier League. (PhotoSTRINGER/AFP via Getty Images)

“I just think he just felt the bit awkward”

Adam Virgo continued: “Fair enough if I sat him in the back and she was in the front. But he just went, ‘Don’t ever do that again. Don’t ever pick me up with your missus in the car again.’ I just think he just felt the bit awkward a little bit. I don’t know why. I was chatting away to him and introduced names and stuff and then and then it was off. But yeah, it was very odd. He had a right go at me. He never asked for another lift and I wouldn’t have given him one!”

Majic, Stan and the King of Japan available at celticstarbooks.com

If you want to read more about that season you should check out Matt Corr’s brilliant book ‘Majic, Stan and the King of Japan’ which you can order at Celtic Star Books and there’s also a Kindle version available on Amazon priced at just £3.49.

Paul Gillespie

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