‘West Ham star went to USA for six weeks of MMA – he wanted to beat everyone up’
Everyone knows that goalkeepers often have a screw loose – but it's difficult to recall any that are as crazy as ex-West Ham and Derby shot-stopper Stephen Bywater.
Bywater played almost 60 times for the Hammers after being brought to east London by Harry Redknapp in 1998 and was chucked straight into the youth set-up.
He won the FA Youth Cup in 1999 alongside Premier League icons Joe Cole and Michael Carrick and enjoyed a lengthy career, but he's best known for his off-field antics.
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In 2007, he verbally spelt out an obscenity whilst live on Sky Sports Goals on Sunday, and three years later, he issued a public apology after a decorated portable toilet in his garden featuring inflatable sex toys caused a hubbub on his street.
In 2018, armed police were called to his home after it was reported he threatened delivery men and swung a curved scimitar sword at them. He later appeared in court, where this was dismissed after 14 minutes.
He even conceded on his debut after becoming distracted by the big screen in the corner at Upton Park after thinking his side had scored.
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Speaking to Under the Cosh, Bywater’s former team-mate and former England ace Bobby Zamora recalled the time the ‘keeper came back from holidays with scrapping on his mind.
He said: “I remember he went away in the summer once to America to do six weeks of MMA fighting; this is when MMA wasn’t even really that big. He comes back, and he just wants to beat everybody up in training, just like choke them… choke them out! He was mad but an amazing guy.
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“He was a really good boy, and I love him to bits. He was a real character. There are so many top boys you come across. It’s so strange, though, because as soon as you leave a club, no matter how tight and close you were, you probably only speak to one, maybe two afterwards."
Zamora played 130 times for the Irons, netting 30 times in the process, but left the club like Bywater had done in 2006, two years later in 2008, as he switched east for west when joining Fulham.
He added: “You're in with those boys for three years, four years, every single day, day in and day out. You get real close, but as soon as you leave, it's like the door shuts, hits you on the way out and then off you go.”
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