How it came to happen:

An investigation by either the FA or Newcastle may also establish why frustration over a non-pass late in a game already lost generated such an extreme action, principally from Bowyer.

Any existing tension between the England internationals had not manifested itself previously, though there was a minor disagreement over a non-pass from Dyer in the first half of this match. Bowyer made his feelings known then and would use statistics showing Dyer made 36 passes on Saturday with only one going to Bowyer, to illustrate a pattern.

When the same thing happened in the 82nd minute Bowyer began haranguing Dyer. As the two converged Dyer stood his ground and Bowyer led with the forehead, then started punching.

How the incident breaks new ground in British incivility. Remember, these two players were on the same tearm. This is a quote from the manager of the club, Souness,

'It's a first for me. I have never witnessed that before. Harsh words between players occur in every game, but it's very unusual for it to lead to what happened today. 'There are always arguments on the training pitch when players stand up to each other, but that's as far as it goes. This is something completely new to me.'

Football provides a metaphor for how civility in Britain has dramatically declined over the past century. See chapter one of The Welfare State We're In for statistics showing the astonishing rise in the number of sendings off over that period. The chapter also makes in clear that a player with an appalling record such as Lee Bowyer's would have been banned for the game for life by now if he had been playing in the 1950s.