Fists of fury turn teammates into sparring partners

Ricardo Fuller's shocking assault on Stoke City teammate Andy Griffin on Sunday cost him a red card and his team an English Premier League defeat.

It also gave him a place in sport's hall of shame – flying fists department.

“He walked up to 'Griff' and clipped him on the chin,” said Stoke manager Tony Pulis after Sunday's domestic tiff at Upton Park where West Ham won 2-1.

“There are always incidents on the pitch and in training. It's nothing I haven't seen before.”

The Premier League is quite used to seeing teammates become sparring partners.

Newcastle midfielder Joey Barton has rarely been out of the headlines for his actions, both on and off the field.

The 26-year-old served a 74-day jail sentence this year following an assault on a 16-year-old boy. In May 2007, he attacked former Manchester City teammate Ousmane Dabo during a training session.

Dabo had described Barton as a coward.

“The fact that I look like the Elephant Man is bad enough, but what I find most shocking is that he struck me first from behind and then repeatedly when I was down on the ground. His actions are despicable,” said Dabo.

Barton scored for Newcastle on his return in October this year having served a six-match ban imposed by the Football Association (FA) and insisted he was a changed character.

“I have messed up on more than one occasion but nothing sobers you up like going to prison,” he said.

“It was not a nice experience and I know this is the last-chance saloon.”

Just weeks later, however, he faced allegations that he had racially abused Aston Villa's Gabriel Agbonlahor.

Newcastle are no strangers to internal strife.

In April 2005, Lee Bowyer and Kieron Dyer squared-up to each other as their team slumped to a dispiriting 3-0 home defeat to Villa. Both players were sent-off.

“We are teammates and we have disagreements, but we should not be fighting in front of 50,000 people,” admitted Dyer.

Bowyer was later fined by a court and his club also banned him.

Punch-ups between teammates have also featured in the United States.

In August, NFL star Steve Smith apologized to his Carolina Panthers team and fans after punching teammate Ken Lucas in training, leaving the starting cornerback with a broken nose.

“I'm not going to get into who's right, who's wrong. I'm completely wrong,” Smith said.