Former Hammers kissed and made up

Former Hammer John Hartson has revealed he has kissed and made up with former team mate Eyal Berkovic.

In September 1998  TV cameras caught the Israeli midfielder throwing a punch at Hartson following a bad tackle in training.

The Welsh striker spun around and kicked Berkovic in the face and the whole thing was caught on camera.

The story made newspapers headlines at the time and led to the banning of TV cameras at the West Ham training ground.

Hartson was punished with a big fime by then boss Harry Redknapp which went to the Leukaemia Fund.

Hartson has now revealed that the pair made up after a chance encounter in a cafe in Israel a few years back, when they shared happier times together.

Discussing the Berkovic incident – the Israeli of course be remembered as a wonderful midfielder, Hartson said: “It was regrettable and I’ve since been in touch with Eyal and met up with him a few times, of course he was at Celtic as well.

“Wales played Israel a couple of years ago and, for whatever reason, I came out of the hotel one day,  and decided to go for a walk and went to a cafe on my own.

“I walked around the corner to a cafe and Eyal Berkovic was there! The next thing a couple of photographers turned up and it was weird.

“To this day I don’t know what happened. Next thing we are having a cup of tea like we’ve been mates for 20 years and been living in the same country .

“All that stuff was then out again. I would like to put on record, like I have many times, it was very regrettable and I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did and it’s always seemed to go before me.”

John  Hartson was West Ham United’s most expensive player, when he signed from Arsenal for £3.2 million in February 1997.

The Swansea-born marksman wasted no time helping to repay that fee as the duo netted 13 goals to ensure that, against the odds, the Hammers avoided the dreaded drop out of the Premier League.

The following season, on-fire Hartson bagged 24 goals – a feat still unsurpassed by West Ham player .

In total Hartson scored 33 times during his 73 outings in the Claret and Blue until he joined Wimbledon for £10.5m in January 1999

Hartson was fined £20,000 for the Berkovic incident and suspended for three games.

Eyal Berkovic was signed by Harry Redknapp for £1.75 million. He played in 79 games in all competitions, scoring 12 goals.

Not long after the incident, Berkovic was signed for £5.75 million by Celtic,