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Joseph Kevin Keegan, Order of the British
Empire|MBE (born 14 February, 1951) is a former
England|English football (soccer) coach and
player. He was born in Armthorpe, Yorkshire. A
former England national football team|England
international manager and player, he decided to
retire after leaving FA Premier League side
Manchester City F.C. as club manager on March 10
2005.

==Playing career==

Keegan was rejected by local club Doncaster Rovers
F.C.|Doncaster Rovers but made the grade further
towards the east coast when Scunthorpe United
F.C.|Scunthorpe United offered him terms. He made
120 appearances for the club before an offer of
35,000 pounds was accepted from Liverpool
F.C.|Liverpool in the summer of 1971.

In August 1971, Keegan made his Liverpool debut
against Nottingham Forest F.C.|Nottingham Forest
at Anfield and after just 12 minutes he scored,
albeit with a completely mishit shot which was all
he could muster after he miscontrolled a pass from
Peter Thompson (footballer)|Peter Thompson. He
quickly established himself as a brave, pacey and
incisive goalscorer, making his
England_national_football_team|England debut at
under-23 level later in 1971 and his full debut
against Wales_national_football_team|Wales the
following year.

In 1973 Keegan won his first domestic honours when
he and John Toshack formed the prolific
goalscoring partnership which helped Liverpool win
their first FA_Premier_League|League championship
for seven years and then add the UEFA Cup. Keegan
scored twice in the first leg of the final as
Liverpool overcame Borussia Monchengladbach 3-2 on
aggregate. Late in 1973, Keegan was a substitute
as England faced
Poland_national_football_team|Poland at Wembley,
needing to win to secure a place at the Football
World Cup|World Cup the following summer. With the
score at 1-1 and England close to elimination,
Keegan started to get changed when he heard
manager Alf Ramsey say: "Kevin, get ready". Sadly
for Keegan, Ramsey was speaking to Derby County
F.C.|Derby County striker Kevin Hector, who was
duly introduced as a late substitute. Keegan never
got on the pitch, the game ended in a draw and
England failed to qualify.

The following year Keegan again was a frequent
scorer but Liverpool surrendered the League title
to a relentless Leeds United F.C.|Leeds United
team who had gone unbeaten for a record 29 games
at the start of the season. However, Liverpool
progressed to the FA Cup final. Their campaign in
the competition had started with a tie against the
club who had spurned Keegan, Doncaster Rovers, and
it was their homeboy who scored both goals in a
2-2 draw. Liverpool won the replay. Keegan scored
twice more on the way to Wembley Stadium|Wembley,
including a stunning lob-volley over the head of
England colleague Peter Shilton in the semi-final
against Leicester City F.C.|Leicester City at
Villa Park. In the final, Keegan scored two as
Liverpool hammered Newcastle United F.C.|Newcastle
United 3-0 - his first a terrific chest-down and
volley from 25 yards after Brian Hall had fooled
the Newcastle defence by diving under the ball;
his second a far-post stretch and tap-in after
great work down the flank between Tommy Smith and
Steve Heighway.

Keegan's next visit to Wembley was three months
later in the Charity Shield game, the traditional
curtain-raiser to a new season between the League
champions and the FA Cup winners. However,
Keegan's contribution proved less than charitable
- he was sent off, along with Leeds captain Billy
Bremner after a scuffle on the pitch. Both players
removed their shirts in protest, with Keegan
visibly shaken by the decision.

The next year saw Keegan scoring goals and
representing his club and country with
distinction, but 1975 was a trophyless season for
Liverpool and England failed to qualify for the
1976 European_Football_Championship|European
Championships. There were honours aplenty for
Keegan over the next two years, however, as
Liverpool again won the League championship and
UEFA Cup. Keegan scored in both legs of the final
against FC Bruges, although he had only scored
once previously during Liverpool's run in the
competition.

In 1977, Keegan was instrumental in Liverpool's
charge towards an unprecedented "treble" of League
championship, FA Cup and European Cup, though he
rocked the boat midway through the season when he
announced his intention to leave in the summer to
try his luck on foreign soil. Nevertheless, Keegan
was irrepressible as Liverpool clinched the title
and reached the finals of both Cup competitions.
Keegan's last appearance in a Liverpool shirt on
home soil was a sad one, however, as Liverpool
lost the FA Cup final to Manchester United
F.C.|Manchester United, ruining the "treble"
dream. The vintage Liverpool returned for the
European Cup final in Rome against Borussia
Monchengladbach four days later and Keegan's last
ever Liverpool appearance was a glorious one. He
didn't score, but Keegan did make the mazy run
late on which led to a foul by Berti Vogts and a
coolly dispatched penalty from Phil Neal which
sealed a 3-1 win. 

After 323 appearances and exactly 100 goals,
Keegan left Liverpool as promised. He had been
made many offers from clubs on the
Europe|continent and chose to join Hamburger
SV|Hamburg SV in Germany for 500,000 pounds.
Liverpool replaced him with Kenny Dalglish.

With Hamburg, Keegan became a worldwide superstar
and was twice made European Footballer of the
Year. He played for them in the 1980 European Cup
final, losing to Nottingham Forest, before
returning to England to play for Southampton
F.C.|Southampton. He continued to play for
England, captaining them in the 1980 European
Championships in Italy and then finally reached a
World Cup when England got to the 1982 finals in
Spain.

Keegan was duly named in the squad for the
tournament but was suffering from a chronic back
injury and was unfit to play in all of England's
group games. In a last, desperate effort to play
in a World Cup (he knew that he would not be
around for the 1986 competition) he secretly hired
a car and drove from Spain to a specialist he knew
in Germany for intensive treatment. It worked to
the extent that he came on as a substitute for a
crucial second round pool game against the host
nation which England had to win. Unfortunately,
his few minutes of World Cup football will be
forever remembered for a point blank header which
he directed wide with the goal at his mercy.

When Bobby Robson became the new England coach
after that World Cup, Keegan was left out of his
first squad, a decision he learned of from the
media rather than Robson himself. Keegan expressed
his public displeasure and never played for his
country again. He won a total of 63 caps (and
almost certainly would have won considerably more
had it not been for England's inability to qualify
for three major tournaments during Keegan's
international career) and scored 21 goals. He
captained his country 31 times.

Keegan joined Newcastle United and spent two
seasons there, during which time he was adored by
the supporters. He played 78 times, scored 48
goals and helped them to promotion from the
Football_League_Second_Division|Second Division in
1984, within a team which also contained Peter
Beardsley, Chris Waddle and Terry McDermott.
Keegan announced his retirement prior to the end
of the 1984 season and on the last day of the
season left Newcastle's ground by helicopter,
still in his kit, after an emotional (and
goalscoring) farewell. He moved with his family to
Spain and lived an exile's life until the call
came back from Newcastle and his career as a
manager began.

==Managerial career==
===Newcastle===
In February 1992, after eight years of retirement
and golf in Spain,  Keegan returned to the game as
manager of Newcastle United. He led Newcastle to
promotion to the Premier League as First Division
champions in 1993.

Although Keegan was appointed Director of Football
in 1994 and agreed a new deal that tied him to the
club for next 10 years, he resigned as manager of
Newcastle on 8 January 1997. 

During Keegan's reign as manager, Newcastle
finished runners-up to Manchester United F.C. in
the Premier League in 1996. England striker Alan
Shearer was transferred from Blackburn Rovers F.C.
to Newcastle with a world breaking record of 15
million pounds ($21.21 million).

It was during his time at Newcastle that Keegan
had his famous rant on Sky Sports. Manchester
United manager, Alex Ferguson (famous for playing
psychological games with opponents), had suggested
that teams tried harder against Man Utd than
Newcastle United. After Newcastle's hard fought
victory over Leeds United in their next match an
emotional Keegan was interviewed on Sky Sports.
Seeming to be on the verge of tears Keegan said: 

:"I think you have to send a tape of the game to
Alex Ferguson - isn't that (the Leeds performance)
what he wants? You just don't say that about
Leeds".

:"I would love it if we could beat them. He's gone
down a lot in my estimation. Football in this
country is honest. You sometimes wonder about
abroad but not in this country." 

:"I would love it if we beat them. Love it!".

This rant came as Newcastle's previous 12 point
lead at the top of the Premiership had been
eroded. By then their destiny was out of their own
hands and Man Utd duly collecting the Title once
again. The 1995/96 Newcastle team were christened
"The Entertainers", and undoubtably, most people
outside Old Trafford wanted them to win.

===Fulham===
On leaving Newcastle, Keegan was appointed as
chief operating officer at Second Division
(English Football)|Second Division club Fulham
F.C.|Fulham, with Ray Wilkins as manager. When
Wilkins was sacked as manager in 1998, Keegan took
over his coaching role. He won the Second Division
in 1999 in a record-breaking season, but left to
manage England in an unpopular move amongst Fulham
fans. Significantly, he signed Chris Coleman, the
man who is now their manager.

===English International team===
Keegan was named new England coach in February
1999 succeeding Glenn Hoddle. He led the team for
a winning start with 3-1 win over Poland to
reignite England's Euro 2000 qualifying campaign. 

After an initial popular period as manager, he
began to come under fire for his perceived
tactical naivety. This came to a head during the
unsuccessful Euro 2000 campaign.

Keegan resigned as England coach on 7 October 2000
after England were eliminated from Euro 2000 at
the group stage and lost to Germany in their first
World Cup qualifier in the last game ever to be
played at Wembley Stadium.

===Manchester City===
He was appointed manager of first division
Manchester City F.C. on 24 May 2001. They were
promoted to the Premier League the following year
and remain there to this day. Keegan left
Manchester City on 10 March 2005.

==Miscellaneous==
*Keegan infamously advertised Brut aftershave
alongside boxing legend Henry Cooper (boxer)|Henry
Cooper in the late 1970s. During his career he has
also advertised Dentyne chewing gum and Sugar
Puffs cereal.
*One of the first real celebrities of the game,
Keegan has famously never refused an autograph
request from a fan (aficionado)|fan.
*Keegan is married to Jean and has two daughters.
He was awarded the MBE in 1982. He speaks fluent
German language|German and Spanish
language|Spanish.
*Keegan was famous for having a mullet
(haircut)|mullet haircut.
*Keegan is remembered for crashing his bicycle in
a European Superstars race and despite scraping
himself up badly, managing to get up, finishing
the race and winning the event.

==Quotes==
*Referring to Emile Heskey: "He's using his
strength and that is his strength, his strength."
(http://www.urban75.org/football/keegan.html
Source)
*"I came to Nantes two years ago and it's much the
same today, except that it's completely
different."
(http://www.dangerhere.com/issues/issue8-230401/wo
rld%20of%20keegan.htm Source)
**See more at
http://www.dangerhere.com/issues/issue8-230401/wor
ld%20of%20keegan.htm Keegan's World.
start box
succession box|title=European Footballer of the
Year|before=Allan Simonsen
|after=retained|years=1978
succession box|title=European Footballer of the
Year|before=current holder |after=Karl-Heinz
Rummenigge|years=1979
succession box|title=FWA Footballer of the
Year|Football Writers' Association Footballer of
the Year|before=Alan Mullery |after=Emlyn
Hughes|years=1976
end box
England national football team manager |
Prev=Howard Wilkinson (caretaker manager
(football)|caretaker) | CoManager= | Next=Peter
John Taylor|Peter Taylor (caretaker) 
start box
succession box|
 before=Ray Wilkins|
 title=Fulham_Football_Club#Managers|Fulham F.C.
Manager|
 years=1998-1999|
 after=Paul Bracewell

end box