Pardew admits headbutt on Meyler cost him £100,000 fine and seven-game ban

Alan Pardew has opened up about the moment he headbutted Hull City midfielder David Meyler during Newcastle United’s 3-1 win at the KC Stadium on 1 March 2014, admitting the incident “damaged me financially and professionally” and left him baffled at his own behaviour.

Pardew told FourFourTwo that Newcastle owner Mike Ashley fined him £100,000 in the aftermath, while the Football Association imposed a seven-game touchline ban. “I’m certainly not proud of it,” Pardew said. “The weird thing is we were winning the game quite comfortably so there was no need for me to get rattled.”

The incident unfolded when the ball went out for a throw-in directly in front of the Newcastle dugout. As Meyler moved to take the throw, he pushed Pardew aside, prompting the manager to walk slowly towards the Hull player and press his head into his face. Pardew was dismissed from the touchline, and the moment quickly became one of the most replayed clips of that Premier League season.

“I remember him barging me as he went to take a throw-in and then threatened me,” Pardew said. “My conduct was not the best obviously but I paid a huge price.”

At the time of the incident, Newcastle sat eighth in the Premier League, just five points behind the European qualification places, and the victory over Hull was their first back-to-back league win in over two months. The timing of the ban proved costly to the club’s season: without Pardew on the touchline, Newcastle collected only six points from their final ten games and finished tenth.