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English Football Legends Series

He may not have been the most naturally gifted player, but Kevin Keegan supplemented his talent with hard work and application to become one of the greats of the English game.

Kevin Keegan

Clubs: Scunthorpe United, Liverpool, Hamburg SV, Southampton, Newcastle United

Position: Forward

Appearances*: 592

Goals*: 204

Honours: League Championship, 3
FA Cup, 1
European Cup, 1
UEFA Cup, 2

---

* League appearances and goals only

A serial winner with Liverpool, a double European Player of the Year with Hamburg, Keegan went on to a management career that took in Newcastle United and the England job, among others.

He began his playing career at Scunthorpe United in 1968, making his debut against Peterborough at the age of 17.

He spent 3 years at the club, scoring 18 goals in 124 games, before Bill Shankly took him to Liverpool in a 35,000 pound deal.

Liverpool

He made his Liverpool debut against Nottingham Forest on 14 August 1971, and scored after 12 minutes.

Shankly quickly recognized the goal-scoring potential in the young player, and converted him from a midfielder to a striking partner for John Toshack.

In 1972, he made his England debut, and in 1973, helped Liverpool to the League championship as well as the UEFA Cup - scoring twice as Liverpool beat Borussia Monchengladbach 3-2 on aggregate.

The following year, Liverpool lost the League title to Leeds United but progressed to the FA Cup final, where a Keegan brace helped them beat Newcastle United 3-0.

His next visit to Wembley, in the Charity Shield, saw him sent off, along with Leeds captain Billy Bremner, after the two came to blows.

1974/75 was a rare trophyless season for Liverpool but the following year they regained the League championship and also won the UEFA Cup - Keegan scoring in both legs of the final against FC Bruges.

In 1977, Liverpool were in line for an unprecedented 'treble' of League, FA Cup and European Cup.

Keegan was in great form as the Reds won the title, and reached the final of both cup competitions.

In the FA Cup they lost to old foes Manchester United, but 4 days later they beat Borussia Monchengladbach 3-1 to win the European Cup for the first time.

It was Kevin Keegan's last appearance in a Liverpool shirt. He had made 323 appearances and scored exactly 100 goals.

Hamburg

With offers from clubs across Europe, he chose to join Hamburg SV. He endured a difficult first few months in the Bundesliga, but eventually found some form as Hamburg finished a disappointing tenth in the league.

Keegan did however pick up a personal honour, he was voted European Footballer of the Year.

The following season saw a vast improvement in Hamburg's fortunes, as they won the title for the first time in nineteen years.

Keegan also won a second consecutive European Footballer of the Year award.

Hamburg were beaten to the title by Bayern Munich the following year, but got to the European Cup final. Unfortunately, there was disappointment here too as they lost to Nottingham Forest.

That summer, Kevin Keegan left Hamburg, and surprised many by signing for Southampton.

Southampton

He spent two years at the Dell, part of a team that included veterans Alan Ball, Phil Boyer, Mick Channon and Charlie George.

In 1980/81 the Saints finished in sixth place, then their highest league finish.

In the following season, Kevin Keegan produced some of the best form of his career, and Southampton were disappointed to finish only 7th after leading the table in January.

There were more personal accolades for Keegan though - he was voted PFA Player of the Year, and awarded the OBE for services to football.

In 1982, he was in the England squad for the World Cup, but injury kept him out of all of England's games, bar a single substitute appearance against the host nation.

Kevin Keegan retired from international football soon after, having scored 21 goals in 63 appearances - 31 of them as captain.

Newcastle United

A few days before the start of the 1982/83 season Keegan signed for Second Division Newcastle United for a fee of 100,000 pounds.

He spent two seasons at St. James' Park playing 78 times, scoring 48 goals and becoming a cult figure with the Geordie fans.

In 1984, he helped Newcastle to promotion from the Second Division, before announcing his retirement prior to the end of the 1983/1984 season.

Managerial career

Newcastle United

In 1992, Kevin Keegan ended a self-imposed eight year exile from the game by taking over as manager of Newcastle United.

Newcastle had been relegated from the top flight in 1989, and Keegan's first priority was to prevent them dropping into the third tier for the first time in their history.

A 20th place finish preserved their status, and one year on they were promoted to the Premier League as Division One champions.

In their first year back they finished third and qualified for the UEFA Cup.

The following season they led the table until the sale of star striker Andy Cole to Manchester United blunted their attack, and they slid to a sixth place finish.

Then in 1995/96, they looked capable of finally ending their long title drought. They were 12 points clear in January, but were hauled in by Manchester United.

It was during the 1995/96 title run-in that Keegan directed his famous rant at United manager, Alex Ferguson during a live television interview.

His outburst - "I will love it if we beat them! Love it!" - was named Premier League Quote of the Decade.

The following season Keegan broke the world transfer record to bring Blackburn and England striker Alan Shearer back to his native Tyneside.

But midway through the campaign, he announced his shock resignation, stating that no longer wished to continue in football management.

Fulham

Just 9 months later however, he accepted the role of Chief Operating Officer of Fulham.

Then, after the sacking of Ray Wilkins he took over as manager.

In 1998/99, he led to club to the Division Two title, but left at the end of the season become England manager.

England

Although initially a popular appointment, Keegan began to come under fire during Euro 2000. He was accused of tactical naivety, as England crashed out in the Group stages.

He resigned on 7 October 2000, after England had lost their opening 2002 World Cup qualifier to Germany.

He won just 38.9% of his games in charge, making him statistically the least successful England manager.

Manchester City

On 24 May 2001, Keegan returned to football as manager of Manchester City.

City had just been relegated from the Premier League, but Keegan got them promoted, as Champions, at the first attempt.

2002 saw Kevin Keegan inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame, while on the pitch his Manchester City side finished their first season back in a creditable 9th place.

The following season they slumped to 16th, but 2004/05 brought better form.

Keegan resigned as City manager on 10 March 2005, once again stating his intention to retire from football.

Return to Newcastle

He made a sensation U-turn, by returning to Newcastle United on 16 January 2008.

A hero's welcome awaited him, as thousands of Newcastle United fans showed up at St. James Park for his unveling.

Newcastle had a disappointing start to the season and were without a win in the first eight games but recovered to finish the season in twelfth place.

They began the following season with a 1-1 draw away at Manchester United but on 2 September 2008, rumours began circulating that Kevin Keegan had either resigned or been sacked.

On 4 September 2008, Keegan issued a statement confirming that he had resigned.

He later won a 2 million pound settlement from the club for constructive dismissal.

Keegan has since appeared as a pundit for both ESPN and ITV.

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