Kevin Keegan
Joseph Kevin Keegan is an English former footballer and manager. Nicknamed "King Kev" or "Mighty Mouse", Keegan was recognised for his dribbling ability, as well as his finishing and presence in the air, and is regarded as one of the greatest players of all time.
Keegan began his playing career at Scunthorpe United in 1968, before Bill Shankly signed him for Liverpool. There, he won three First Division titles, the UEFA Cup twice, the FA Cup and, in his final season, the European Cup. During this period, he was a regular member of the England national team, and captained the team on 31 occasions, including at UEFA Euro 1980. He moved to Hamburger SV in the summer of 1977 and was named European Footballer of the Year in both 1978 and 1979. Hamburg won the Bundesliga title in the 1978–79 season and reached the 1980 European Cup final. Keegan left Hamburg and played at Southampton for two seasons, before transferring to Newcastle United in the Second Division in 1982. He helped Newcastle secure promotion in his second season, and retired from playing in 1984. He scored 204 goals in 592 appearances in his club career, adding 21 goals in 63 caps for the England national team.
Keegan moved into management at Newcastle in 1992, and the team won promotion to the Premier League as First Division champions in his first full season, the following year. Newcastle finished second in the Premier League in the 1995–96 season, despite leading the way for most of the campaign. After managing Fulham for two seasons, he took charge of the England national team in February 1999. However, he resigned in October 2000, following a 1–0 loss against Germany in qualification for the 2002 FIFA World Cup. In 2001, he became manager of Manchester City for four years, until he resigned in 2005. Keegan had been out of football for almost three years when he returned to Newcastle for a second spell as manager in January 2008. However, this lasted only eight months, as he resigned in September, following speculation about a dispute with the club's directors. He has the unique distinction of being promoted as champions in his first full season with the three clubs he managed.
Early years
Keegan's paternal ancestors arrived in Newcastle from Ireland. In 1909, his grandfather Frank, an inspector, heroically saved lives in the West Stanley Pit disaster. His father Joe and uncle Frank were Newcastle United supporters, describing their favourite players as Hughie Gallacher and Jackie Milburn. His father moved to Armthorpe near Doncaster to work in a colliery, where he married Doris and they had three children: Mary, who was two years Keegan's senior, Kevin, and Michael. His father never saw Keegan play for Newcastle.Keegan was born in February 1951 at his aunt Nellie's house in Elm Place in Armthorpe, as she had electricity that made it safer for childbirth. Keegan attended St. Peter's High School in nearby Cantley.
Keegan was given his first football by his uncle Frank and his first pair of football boots by his father after he won betting on horses. They were a second-hand pair of Winit boots bought from a sports shop run by former Doncaster Rovers centre forward Ray Harrison. Keegan played football at Hyde Park using his baby brother Michael's pushchair as a goal post. As a boy, he supported Doncaster Rovers. His favourite player was Alick Jeffrey, a player once described by Matt Busby's assistant, Jimmy Murphy, as the English Pelé, and once described by Milburn as "the best young player he had ever seen". As a schoolboy, Keegan had a trial for Coventry City under manager Jimmy Hill. Despite being one of two players kept on for an extra six-week period, the club did not offer Keegan a contract. They did offer apprenticeship terms to the right-back Brian Joy, who went on to have a 15-year career in football. Keegan had another trial with Doncaster Rovers arranged by his father, but when Keegan arrived he found out he had the wrong information — the trial was earlier in the day and at a different place.
Keegan participated in various sports, such as cross country running, rugby, and football, and served his school's cricket team as captain. He also boxed at his local club, run by the former British Heavyweight champion Bruce Woodcock. At age 15, Keegan and two friends completed a 50-mile run from Nottingham to Doncaster. In his autobiography, Keegan claimed this run prepared him physically and psychologically for any running he had to do in future pre-season training or football matches. Keegan left school with O Levels in History and Art.
At the age of 15, Keegan started working at Pegler Brass Works as an office clerk, though he has said he was more of a tea boy and messenger than a clerk. Whilst working at Pegler, Keegan played Saturday afternoon football for his local youth club, Enfield House, and Sunday morning football for the Lonsdale Hotel. It was during this time that a colleague named Harry Holland invited him to play for the Peglers Works reserves. His chance at professional football came when he was playing Sunday morning league football for the Lonsdale Hotel in a match against Woodfield Social in 1966. Keegan was marked by an older player named Bob Nellis, who was so impressed by the ability of Keegan that he offered him a trial at Fourth Division side Scunthorpe United — one of just two professional sides in the division. This trial would lead to the Scunthorpe manager Ron Ashman giving Keegan his first contract in professional football.
Club career
1966–1971: Scunthorpe United
could not afford a set of football nets and trained on a rugby pitch at Quibell Park. They also had five-a-side training sessions on the Old Show Ground concrete car park. Keegan took training very seriously, twice a week training with teammate Derek Hemstead by doing weighted farmers walks up and down the cantilever stand at the Old Show Ground. In running drills at Scunthorpe, Keegan liked trying to finish first and was told by coach Jack Brownsword that one thing he had going for him was that he was a "one-hundred percenter" and he should never lose that. This will to be first in his running drills would later irritate senior professionals such as Liverpool's Tommy Smith, and Bill Shankly would later advise Keegan that he did not have to win all his runs.Scunthorpe did not have the funds for a full-time driver to drive them to away games, so Keegan and the other younger players would take turns in driving the minibus to and from away games. Keegan, Nigel Jackson, Jimmy Coyne, Alan Olbison and Steve Hibbotson once borrowed Brownsword's stopwatch and had timed rallies around the Old Show Ground with the club's vintage tractor. On Keegan's turn, the tractor crashed and the tractor's axle went through the engine. The crash was very expensive to fix and the five players were harshly reprimanded by manager Ron Ashman. This experience gave Keegan awareness of his responsibility as a representative of Scunthorpe United. In 1968, Keegan made his debut against Peterborough United at the age of 17, and went on to make 29 league starts in his first season. He became a regular in the first team by the 1969–70 season, playing all 46 league games for the club. That season saw the team reach the fifth round of the FA Cup, beating First Division side Sheffield Wednesday along the way. His low wages at Scunthorpe meant Keegan had to find summer jobs, such as plate-laying at the Appleby Frodingham Steelworks.
Keegan played regularly in a creative right midfield role for the Scunthorpe first team, scoring 18 goals in 124 games for the club. After his first season, he started attracting interest from higher division clubs. In a rare televised interview at Scunthorpe during the 1969–70 season, Keegan tried to play down the interest, stating: "I'm getting first-team football here. Should think if I went First Division, I'd struggle a bit." Not long after this interview, Keegan began to feel impatient about playing in higher divisions and even considered quitting the game and getting a full-time job. Higher division clubs such as Preston North End, Birmingham City, Notts County, Millwall and Arsenal all showed interest in Keegan but nothing came of it.
1971–1977: Liverpool
In 1971, Keegan attracted the attention of Liverpool's head scout Geoff Twentyman, whose opinion was held in high regard by manager Bill Shankly. After Twentyman's recommendation, Liverpool made an offer for Keegan which Scunthorpe accepted. After Scunthorpe agreed to the fee offered, Keegan was driven the four hours to Liverpool by manager Ron Ashman, who was determined to get a cash influx for the club. Prior to the journey, Keegan's father advised Keegan to not sell himself cheap. Keegan negotiated a contract worth £50 a week after Shankly had originally offered him £45. Ashman, sensing the deal may fall through, was at one stage aghast at Keegan's negotiation tactics. On the drive back to Scunthorpe, Ashman was critical of Keegan's bluff that he was earning almost £45 a week at a Fourth Division club. After the negotiation, 20-year-old Keegan was transferred to Liverpool for a fee of £33,000.Liverpool bought Keegan as a midfielder, but Shankly soon decided to move Keegan up front alongside John Toshack. In a reserve match against Tranmere Rovers, Keegan played right midfield, and after playing with an attacking mindset he was strongly warned by Ronnie Moran that he was "playing too free and easy", and "nearly playing up front". Keegan took Moran's criticism as a slight, and for a period perceived that Moran strongly had it in for him. As a result of Keegan's lack of positional discipline, he was tested up front in a preseason reserve match against Southport. Keegan scored both goals in a 2–1 victory observed by Shankly. Liverpool then tried Keegan in attack at Melwood in a game between the first team and reserves. Keegan played for the first team and scored four in a 7–0 victory. His attacking ability prompted Shankly to keep Keegan up front, and he was immediately deployed as the new strike partner for Toshack. Though Keegan liked Toshack as a teammate, they did not socialise off the pitch, and Keegan said it was strange how quickly they could understand each other's play styles. Keegan claimed that the only other player who reached that level of football understanding with him was England international Trevor Brooking. On 14 August 1971, Keegan made his Liverpool debut against Nottingham Forest at Anfield, scoring after 12 minutes.
In the 1972–73 season, Keegan won his first major titles. As the season was coming to a close, Liverpool was in a tight race with Leeds United and Arsenal for the top spot in the First Division. Don Revie's Leeds squad visited Anfield for a showdown on Easter Monday. Two plays on either side of halftime decided the match. First, Leeds' Peter Lorimer missed an open goal just before halftime. Two minutes after the break, Peter Cormack scored to put Liverpool ahead. Keegan added a late second goal to seal the win. Arsenal dropped a point at Southampton, and Liverpool clinched the title with a 0–0 draw against Leicester City in the final game. This was their first major trophy since 1966. In the UEFA Cup, Liverpool reached the final, where they would face German side Borussia Mönchengladbach. The first leg at Anfield was abandoned after 27 minutes due to a downpour and rescheduled for the next day. The 27 minutes they played gave Shankly an insight into Mönchengladbach's defensive vulnerability in the air. To exploit this, he brought tall forward Toshack into the starting team, demoting the smaller Brian Hall, who appeared only as a late substitute. Keegan scored two goals set up by Toshack headers in a 3–0 win. Liverpool lost the second leg 2–0 away, winning the title 3–2 on aggregate.
Keegan was a frequent scorer the following season, but Liverpool lost the league title to a Leeds team that went unbeaten for a then-record 29 games at the start of the season. The team was more successful in the FA Cup. Their campaign in the competition started with a match against the club which had rejected Keegan, Doncaster Rovers, and it was Keegan who scored both Liverpool goals in a 2–2 draw. Liverpool won the replay and advanced. Keegan scored twice more on the way to the cup finals at Wembley Stadium, including a lob-volley over the head of Peter Shilton in the semi-final against Leicester City at Villa Park.
In the 1974 final, Liverpool played Newcastle United. Keegan explained Liverpool players were motivated by trash-talk from Newcastle's Malcolm Macdonald and John Tudor. Macdonald and Tudor gave pre-game interviews confidently proclaiming superiority over Liverpool and criticising older Liverpool professionals like Tommy Smith. Keegan also believed Shankly may have got into the heads of the Newcastle players when, on the night before the game, Shankly and Newcastle manager Joe Harvey were being interviewed. Shankly was audible off-camera, stating, "Joe looks a bag of nerves..." Keegan explained it would not have surprised him if this was not an accident, and that Shankly did this to neutralise Newcastle's confidence. In the final, Keegan scored two as Liverpool beat Newcastle 3–0. It was the first brace in an FA Cup final since Mike Trebilcock scored twice for Everton in 1966. Keegan claimed that with 100,000 people in attendance, the non-stop chanting of both sets of supporters, and the millions watching on television, this game was "as close to a non-drug-induced psychedelic experience as he could ever get".
Keegan's next visit to Wembley was three months later in the Charity Shield, the traditional curtain raiser to a new season. The match was contentious and turned violent. Leeds midfielder Johnny Giles punched an unsuspecting Keegan, but was spared sending off after Keegan asked the referee to be lenient. Giles later lunged two-footed at Keegan. Upon Keegan's outraged reaction, Billy Bremner challenged Keegan, who then exploded and punched Bremner. Bremner punched back, and they were both sent off, the first time anyone had been sent off in a Charity Shield match. Both players removed their shirts in protest, with Keegan vocally outraged by the decision. Inside the Liverpool dressing room, Bremner approached Keegan to apologise and was met by the fury of Keegan's father who had come down to check on his son. The fight was shown that night on the BBC. Keegan and Bremner were fined £500 each, with Keegan being suspended for three games and Bremner eight. Despite this, Keegan, Bremner and Giles remained good friends outside of football.
The next year saw Keegan score 12 goals for Liverpool, but the 1974–75 season was a trophyless season. There were numerous honours for Keegan over the next two years, however, as Liverpool again won the League championship and UEFA Cup in the 1975–76 season. Keegan scored in both legs of the UEFA Cup final against FC Bruges, which Liverpool won 4–3 on aggregate.
In the 1976–77 season, Keegan helped Liverpool win the League championship and European Cup. Midway through the season, he announced his intention to leave Liverpool in the summer to play abroad. He scored 20 goals in his final season with the club. Keegan's last appearance in a Liverpool shirt on home soil was Liverpool's loss in the FA Cup final to bitter rivals Manchester United. The European Cup final in Rome against Borussia Mönchengladbach was four days later. Keegan did not score, but he did make a late run which led to a foul inside the penalty area by Berti Vogts. This led to a penalty which was successfully converted by Phil Neal, sealing a 3–1 win. During the season, on 4 December 1976, Keegan's father died of cancer at the age of 71.
After 323 appearances and 100 goals, Keegan left Liverpool. He had offers from clubs across Europe, and chose to join Hamburger SV in the West German Bundesliga for £500,000. Liverpool replaced him with Kenny Dalglish. Of his time in Liverpool, Keegan later said, "The only thing I fear is missing an open goal in front of the Kop. I would die if that were to happen. When they start singing 'You'll Never Walk Alone' my eyes start to water. There have been times when I've actually been crying while I've been playing."