Kevin Keegan will always be remembered for his association with the great Liverpool team that dominated English and European football during the 1970's. Dubbed the 'Mighty Mouse' Keegan was a compact forward famed for his curly perm.
At 5 ft 8 in, he used his footballing skills and pace to good effect, it would be great to see how he would have performed in the modern game.
Keegan started his career at Scunthorpe after failing to impress Coventry City manager Jimmy Hill, he was kept on for 6 weeks after attending a trial at the club but not offered a contract. He was also turned down by Doncaster Rovers for being too small.
At Scunthorpe, Keegan attracted the attention of the Liverpool head coach and was transferred to Liverpool at the age of 20 for a fee of £35,000.
During his time at Liverpool he won 3 League titles, the UEFA Cup two times an FA Cup and a European Cup. During his time there he also earned his first England Cap.
Keegan left Liverpool in 1977 to play for Hamburger SV in Germany. Keegan continued his good form winning two European Footballer of the Year awards whilst there. He also helped them win the Bundesliga title and reach the European Cup final.
Keegan then moved to Southampton, where he spent two seasons before moving to Newcastle, where arguable he is most remembered, playing for them and managing them twice.
Keegan became Newcastle manager in 1994 whilst they were in the second division and in danger of relegation to the third division, a fate that would have been almost unthinkable. Keegan prevented this from happening and then went on to guide Newcastle to promotion to the First Division. They won the First Division title ahead of West Ham in the 1992-1993 season, securing the club promotion to the Premier League.
The first season in the Premier League was very successful with the Magpies finishing third, their highest place finish since 1927. If that season was good, the next seemed incredible, with Keegan playing an all out attacking game that wasn't bothered about conceding goals, the mantra was you score 3 we will score 4.
This approach was very successful, with Newcastle having a 12 point lead by January and seemingly on course for the title. This is when one of the most dramatic outbursts in football history happened. Manchester United Manager Alex Ferguson, famous for his mind games, had clearly got to him, whilst being interviewed by Sky Sports, Keegan went into a rant where he famously said, "I'd love it if we beat them".
Newcastle however could not maintain their lead and Manchester United went on to win the title, Newcastle went on to finish in second place. Clearly the pressure had got to Keegan and many believed that Ferguson's mind games were the reason, I think that is hard to say, Manchester United went on a tremendous run that year, with Eric Cantona in incredible form.
After leaving Newcastle, Keegan managed Fulham, he initially arrived as Director of Football but was appointed manager after the sacking of Ray Wilkins. After gaining them promotion to the First Division, Keegan left Fulham to take up the England Managers job.
Keegan was to many the ideal England manager, as a former England player and his previous managerial success, it looked at first sight a dream move. It started well with England qualifying for the Euro 2000 finals. However he was criticised for his tactical naivety, sadly resigning at the end of a defeat by Germany at the last ever England game to be played at the old Wembley stadium.
Keegan returned to club management with Manchester City, he again enjoyed success, gaining them promotion back to the Premier League at the first attempt. Keegan spent 4 years at City before unexpectedly retiring from football in 2005.
A shock return to Newcastle as Manager in 2008 sadly only lasted 8 months, with speculation that Keegan was in dispute with the club directors. Keegan later explained that his criticism was due to a lack of finances being made available to allow the club to break into the top four. He also refused to rule out return to Newcastle but only if Mike Ashley left the club.
Although Keegan has one of the worst managerial records as England manager, his domestic managerial rating is starkly different, gaining promotion as champions with Fulham, Newcastle and Manchester City in his first full season as manager at each club.
Keegan enjoyed a long and successful International Career with England, gaining 63 caps and scoring 21 goals. England missed out on the 1974 and 1978 World Cups and sadly Keegan was injured during the 1982 World Cup.
The format of the 1982 finals tournament consisted of two group stages, England qualified to the second round by winning their group, however England only managed two 0-0 draws in the second round and failed to progress.
Trevor Brooking and Kevin Keegan came on as substitutes in the second game against Spain with England needing to win the game to progress. Despite some good play, with Keegan nearly scoring a couple of times, they failed to score and West Germany went through courtesy of their 2-1 win over Spain.
3 Famous Keegan Moments
Keegan sent off in Charity Shield
Keegan falls of his bike during Superstars 1976
Keegan outburst on Sky Sports
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