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Kevin
Keegan at Scunthorpe United
(click
to see full size - thanks to Phil Moody for sending this picture)
My older
brother's era (not that he ever showed an inkling of
interest) had George Best as their hero, a few years down
the line, and we had to settle for Kevin Keegan. One high
on raw talent and low on effort the other high on effort
and low on raw talent. Armthorpe's famous son, fought his
way to the top with peerless dedication and motivation.
Kevin
(2nd from right) with his Scunthorpe United team mates
Having
learned his trade at Scunthorpe United, Kevin became the
hero of Anfield, where he most famously partnered John
Toshack up front, as the Shankly team evolved into the
top team in Europe from the mid-Seventies on. In the days
when moves abroad were rare, Kevin went to S.V. Hamburg
and took West Germany by storm. He was England captain
and twice European Footballer of the year (in 1978 and
1979).
Sadly for
Kevin - and the rest of us - he was the closest thing
England had to a World class player in his day, hence
England were absent from both the '74 and '78 World Cup
Finals and by Spain 1982 Kevin was increasingly getting
injured. His last international was against the World Cup
hosts, Spain, in which returning from injury, he came on
as substitute to try and break the 0-0 deadlock. Even
this skilled motivator could not succeed and England went
out.
The
Mighty Mouse
By this
time Kevin was back in England with Southampton where he
was the First Division leading goalscorer for the only
time in his career (in 1981-82 with 26 goals). But his
final hurrah was with Newcastle United, where he was
regarded as hero and saviour of the footballing Geordie
people. 48 League goals in 78 games - more than half of
which were scored following realistic diving in the
penalty area learnt in Germany (well nearly!) - and
promotion to the top division were Kevin's return gift
for all the adoration. He shocked some by retiring when
there was clearly years left in him as a player. He
scored in his farewell match, and left football
altogether for some years.
It was
little surprise to see Kevin's return to top football
management. The king of motivators returned at Newcastle
United, which had barely survived relegation to the (old)
third Division the season before. It was a triumphantal
return for Kevin, as he immediately helped the club win
the Division One Championship (1992-93) ensuring that the
Newcastle United were around for the Premiership from its
second season of formation. His god-like staus as a
player for Newcastle thus continued in his new role as
manager, and in subsequent seasons Newcastle finished
3rd, 6th, and runners-up to Manchester United.
But by
the next season, the pressure was beginning to tell, a 9
point Championship lead in February 1996 slowly eroded
away, and by March Man U were on top again. The
Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson's
gamesmanship got the better of wor Kev. On 29 April,
Newcastle beat Leeds United 1-0 to record the side's
third win on the trot, and believing Sir Alex had tried
to stir up the Leeds players to win 12 days earlier,
Kevin flipped on a Sky TV interview.
All cruel
fans just love to see it repeated again and again. Not
least because Newcastle ultimately bottled it, in spite
of - or maybe because of - Kevin's high emotions, and
were runners-up to Manchester United for the second
season on the trot. Halfway through the next campaign,
Kevin left the club - curiously to be replaced by Kenny
Dalglish as he had been as a player at Liverpool.
Kevin
then joined up with Al Fayed's millions at Fulham. The
club had been struggling to survive at all, but with new
money came new ambitions and their steady climb to the
Premiership was kicked started by Kevin who won the
Division Two Championship in his first season - 1998-99,
where he had the job title of Chief Operating Officer !
His
apprenticeship served, Kevin next rose to the highest
managerial post of the English game, that of the England
coach. Taking over from Glenn Hoddle who left prematurely
and under a cloud, Kevin came once again with more bold
personality than talent. Nevertheless, Kevin did succeed
in his first task in the post - qualification to Euro
2000, even if it did take a blind-one-legged-doggy's
chance to get there.
Ultimately
England's performance in those Finals was unimpressive,
and the team failed to pass the opening group stage.
Then, following the 1-0 defeat to Germany in the first
qualifying match of the 2002 World Cup competition, in
the much hyped last game at the old Wembly stadium, Kevin
shocked the English football world by resigning. He
claimed, 'I didn't want to outstay my welcome'. Generally
Kevin was accused of being tactically naive. No doubt the
interview exclusives, magazine articles and pending book
will bore us tirelessly in this decision's aftermath, but
so far Kevin has remained largely quiet on the issue.
After
a season on the sidelines, Kevin returned as manager of
Manchester City. At this point City had a torrid recent
history with an ever growing list of former managers. Joe
Royle
had succeeded in getting the club from the 2nd Division
to the Premiership, but after just one season the side
were relgated . Once more out of the (sky) blue Kevin
arrived, but for the first time on the back of a
tarnished record.
In
true heroic style, Kevin helped City back into the
Premiership as Champions in his very first season at the
club (2001-2002). In their first season in the
Premiership, City finished a credible 9th, but in 2003-4
they slipped to 16th. Hence, the pressure on Kevin grew
as he had made a number of big money signings, but not
produced any silverware. An FA Cup defeat to League One
local rivals, Oldham Athletic, in January 2005 did not
help the situation, and in March it was all over. Kevin
left football management once again, and currently
remains in the wings having possibly ended his
connections with football management for good.
Though
still mentioned in a number of speculations about
returning to management, one of the most intriguing being
Doncaster Rovers, which being in South Yorkshire - the
county of his birth, seemed almost possible, so far Kevin
has resisted. Presently has involvement with the Soccer
Circus at Xscape at Braehead, Glasgow.
There I
wrote a whole history without once mentioning his
terrible 'Head Over Heels' single, that dreadful perm,
the disgracful incident where Billy Bremner and he threw
their shirts off in a Charity Sheild match, or the fact
he cheated outragously every time I saw him play against
Leeds United ... er, allegedly.
This is
the best picture I have (so far) of Kevin in his
Scunthorpe United playing days.
Joseph
Kevin Keegan
Born
: Armthorpe, 14 February, 1951.
League
appearances :
| Club |
Source |
Date
signed |
Played |
Games |
Subs |
Goals |
| Scunthorpe
United |
Apprentice |
12.68 |
68-70 |
120 |
4 |
17 |
| Liverpool |
Transfer |
05.71 |
71-76 |
230 |
0 |
68 |
| Southampton |
S.V.
Hamburg (W.Germany) |
07.80 |
80-81 |
68 |
0 |
37 |
| Newcastle United |
Transfer |
08.82 |
82-83 |
78 |
0 |
48 |
| Total
: |
|
|
|
496 |
4 |
170 |
England appearances :
| Level |
Games |
Goals |
| Under-23 |
5 |
n/k |
| Full |
63 |
21 |
For further links on this site see ...
See
more pictures of Kevin
Keegan
Keeganballs ... Some great
Kevin Keeganisms.
See
where Kevin came in the poll of players from the last
30 years in Shoot! magazine.
See
his favourite Bill Shankly story at news.
Kevin
was on Talksport Radio, see March
2000 News
There's
various news updates at May 2000 news
See
a 'Total Sport' match report of the 1974 Charity
Shield.
Do
you know the time Kevin was born ? See E-mail, June 2000.
See
the 'FourFourTwo' article on Kevin being a 'bargain
buy' for Bill Shankly at July
2000 Review.
For
his part in the Football Foundation see July 2000 News.
See
Keegan on his Wembly Stadium memories, in October 2000 News.
See
Keegan on his England departure at October 2000 News
See
about appearance in advert at October 2000 News
Kevin's
back as Manchester City's manager ! - see May 2001 News
Kevin
promotes hymns for Christmas, supports Megan Rajah
Appeal, and speaks out against Phoenix League, see November 2001 News
Man
City win the First Division Championship, see April 2002
Kevin
is in the Top Twenty list of England International
goalscorers, see Top
Twenty
When
did Kevin retire ? Answer at Emails October 2002
Mickey
Quinn on Kevin, see October 2003
Kevin
laid up after back surgery, see April 2004
See
lyrics to 'Head Over Heels'
Leaves
Manchester City 11 March 2005
Kevin
works on the Soccer Circus at Xscape in Baehead,
Glasgow, see Winter 2007
Career
1999- : See Rothmans 1999-2000, 2000-2001, 2001-2002, 2002-2003. Sky Sports 2003-2004, 2004-2005
 Click to see a
picture of Kevin signing for Liverpool
Books
For
other sites see ...
Newcastle United
Official Site has a record of
Kevin as their manager
A
BBC profile written when Kevin became the England
manager can be seen at BBC News Football
From curly perm to people's champion
There
is a full profile and career breakdown at Kevin Keegan -
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
See
www.xscape.co.uk/snow/braehead
Thanks to
Ian Corry (George Best Page) for sending the
picture of Kevin at Liverpool.
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