Kevin Keegan, the former England and Newcastle manager who was twice European football of the year and a stalwart member of Liverpool’s serial First Division and European champions in the 1970s, has died aged 75.
Keegan’s family revealed in January that he had cancer, and in June he revealed himself that it was stage four, the most advanced stage. “It is with immense sadness that we announce that Kevin Keegan has passed away at the age of 75,” read a family statement. “Kevin had been battling cancer and was surrounded by his wife and daughters in his final moments.
“A double Ballon D’or winner, Kevin was a much loved husband, father and grandfather. The family would like to thank Kevin’s incredible medical team for all their support. This is a hugely difficult time and they are requesting space and privacy.”
Keegan started his career at Scunthorpe before being signed for Liverpool by Bill Shankly for just £33,000 in 1971, “King Kevin” going on to win the First Division title three times as well as the FA Cup, the Uefa Cup twice and the 1977 European Cup. Keegan is the only British player to have won two Ballons d’Or.
The 5ft 8in combative “Mighty Mouse” was not, by his own admission, a natural talent but the son of a south Yorkshire miner trained hard, remained humble and never ducked a challenge, traits that endured him to the Kop. “I learned so much from Shanks. He used to say: ‘If I was a road-sweeper, my street would be the cleanest in the borough.’ I took that to heart,’ he said.
Keegan was twice named European Footballer of the Year while at the German club Hamburg and returned to England to play for Southampton and Newcastle before retiring as a player in 1984. He won 63 England caps, scoring 21 goals, playing at the 1982 World Cup and was also captain at the 1980 Euros.
Keegan was never one to hold back, his fiery temperament rarely far from the surface. He was memorably sent off for scrapping with Leeds’s Billy Bremner in the 1974 Charity Shield after boiling over and his volatile temperament and pugnacious intolerance of football’s machinations, real or perceived. “I don’t like people to deceive me and tell me lies,” he told the Guardian in 2018.
He wrote newspaper columns, was one of the English game’s first players to have their own branded football boots, had a hit record (Head Over Heels in Love), and became an enduring star of the BBC’s Superstars. He was the public face of 70s aftershave Brut 33 with Henry Cooper. He became close friends with another of the game’s renegades, George Best. “I wanted so much to have his ability. His skill was unbelievable. I played against Cruyff, Beckenbauer, Maradona. But I still say Besty was the best I played against,” he told Simon Hatterstone.
Keegan retired from playing aged 33 and moved to Spain, where his two daughters grew up unaware he had been a footballer. “It was the best decision I made in my life,” he told the Guardian in 2011. “I was at the highest level and the only way was down. I call it the glass mountain – you can’t climb a glass mountain.”
In 1992, Keegan made his first step into management at his former club Newcastle, guiding them into the Premier League and to within touching distance of the 1995-96 title only to miss out to Manchester United. His finger-jabbing “I will love it” rant when Alex Ferguson’s mind-games to get the better of him has become part of the English game’s lore.
After leaving St James’ Park in January 1997, a brief stint at Fulham followed before he became England manager in 1999, having initially taken on the job following Glenn Hoddle’s departure. Amid a disappointing Euro 2000 campaign, Keegan resigned on the back of defeat by Germany at Wembley Stadium, after just 20 months and 18 games, winning only seven of them – the worst win ratio of any England manager.
A spell at Manchester City followed, but Keegan left the club in March 2005, initially announcing his retirement from football, only to make an emotional return to Newcastle in 2008. That second spell lasted eight months following tensions with the board and owner Mike Ashley. In 2009 a tribunal awarded Keegan £2m damages for constructive dismissal.
He was made an OBE in 1982 for services to football, but Keegan’s unreconstructed opinions could offend. In 2023, his questioning the suitability of former England women’s internationals commenting on incidents in men’s international matches landed him in hot water. At a public event in Bristol, he told the audience: “I don’t like to listen to ladies talking about the England men’s team at the match because I don’t think it’s the same experience. I have a problem with that.”
This story will update