Roy Keane's reason for cancelling open-top bus parade showed his true character

Roy Keane rejected the chance to celebrate with an open-top bus parade after winning promotion as Sunderland manager. While winning silverware is a rarity for most clubs, the former Black Cats boss decided against marking their return to the top-flight with a public celebration.

This season, Liverpool have had time to prepare for their open-top bus parade after running away with the Premier League title race. The Reds could potentially confirm their 20th league title with a draw against Tottenham Hotspur today before lifting the Premier League trophy on the final day of the season.

It will be a joyous moment for the Liverpool squad and fans, followed by unforgettable celebrations, particularly after the club’s long-awaited league triumph in 2020 was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Manchester United legend Keane took a different approach when his Sunderland side achieved an unlikely promotion in 2007.

Keane took over as manager in August 2006, replacing Sunderland legend and chairman Niall Quinn after four games. The club was bottom of the table but enjoyed an incredible rise under Keane, losing just one of their last 20 games after the turn of the year to clinch the Championship title on the final day.

Despite masterminding this remarkable feat in his first season as a manager, Keane was eager for his team not to revel too much in the joys of the promotion. Former Black Cats midfielder Ross Wallace has explained that Keane's refusal to allow an open-top bus parade was a sign of his winning mentality. Still, it was not necessarily a popular decision with members of his squad.

“We beat Luton away to win the league and all the lads are in the dressing room signing, buzzing, out with the fans and that,” Wallace said on the Undr the Cosh podcast. “You could see him and his thing was thinking, ‘we’re not done here, we need more than this’. His mentality was, ‘we’re going to the Premier League.’”

Asked about his feelings towards the manager’s decision, Wallace admitted: “I can understand why he done it, but I just thought it was the wrong decision at the time. There was a few lads there that were probably going to move on because we got promoted. It was obvious he had a bit of money to spend, getting into the Premier League.

“I think there were a few lads that had never had that experience of winning something. It’s such a big club, brilliant club. I know it’s not his thing. He’s won Premier Leagues and that, but I just thought, ‘you’ve got that one wrong’.

“I just thought you’ve messed that one up a little bit because loads of players go through their career and you don’t win anything. Even games like play-off finals, if you get beat, you get these occasions, or you win them.

“You’ve got to celebrate [winning trophies]. These moments in your career are few and far between. You don't get (many of) these moments, so when you do get them, especially the lads that have experienced promotions, you’ve got to celebrate and enjoy it.”

Wallace spent two years at Sunderland before being loaned out and later joining Preston North End. He made 32 appearances in the Black Cats' promotion season before featuring 21 times in the top-flight. On the same podcast, his former Sunderland team-mate Chris Brown recalled that the Black Cats had taken a different stance when Mick McCarthy’s side earned promotion two years earlier.

“We won the Championship to get promoted to the Premier League under Mick [McCarthy],” Brown said. “I can’t remember going out onto the pitch and getting my medal, but I can remember being on the bus on the Monday going round the town centre with 40,000 people there.”

In their return to the top-flight under Keane, Sunderland finished the 2007/08 campaign in 15th. The Black Cats have not been in the Premier League since 2017 but have already confirmed their place in this season’s Championship play-offs.

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