Five years ago, whilst working at Newcastle’s main newspaper, ChronicleLive, I put together a long read that involved interviewing four former Newcastle United youth team players. They were the class of ‘94. Talented and successful, they won things at youth level but were ultimately victims of a very cold decision by Kevin Keegan.
Speaking to them decades later about their time at the club, at the height of Keegan mania, each had a curious mix of gratitude and bitterness. Despite being first- and second-year pros fresh out of high school, they were afforded the privilege of rubbing shoulders with Premier League stars like Peter Beardsley and Andy Cole, training with them almost daily, and often with Keegan, who would join in regularly.
Yet their pathway to the first team was effectively blocked by the man they idolised as kids, a man worshipped by an entire fanbase.
Strong-minded, assertive, tough
You don’t reach the pinnacle of world football without being strong-minded, assertive, and tough. Keegan was all those and more, as some of his actions while managing Newcastle showed.
The sale of Andy Cole to Manchester United was one. A player who had scored 41 goals in 46 appearances during the 1993/94 season (34 in the league). Think of the confidence and belief it takes to sell a player like that to your closest rivals the very next season, and then stand on the steps of the stadium, look angry, devastated supporters in the eyes and explain why you did it.
His passionate outburst live on Sky Sports in April 1996 showed the anger and frustration that burned inside him, that Newcastle’s best chance to win a top-flight title since 1927 was slipping away.
A lesser-discussed Keegan act was his decision to completely scrap the club’s reserve team in 1996. Keegan had a stubborn side; he could be temperamental, knee-jerk, and he was unapologetically passionate.
He worked a lot on instinct; for example, his decisions to leave as Newcastle manager in 1997 and 2008 shocked people, as did his decision to quit as England boss immediately after losing to Germany in the final game at the old Wembley Stadium.
His decision not to operate with a second-string team was certainly unexpected, and ultimately boiled down to the condition of the St. James’ Park pitch.
Newcastle youth-teamer during this time Stuart Elliot explained to me in 2021: “Pontins sponsored the league, and because of the money they’d put in they wanted a bit more glamour to it, so they asked every club to play 50% of their home reserve games in the club stadium.
“Bear in mind there was about 14 teams in the league, so you’re talking about six, seven home games max.”
Keegan dug his heels in. Newcastle already had issues with the playing surface at St. James’ Park without extra games taking place. Both Roy Evans and Alex Ferguson agreed at the time that they would also reject the request. Both spoke to Keegan, and it was decided they would stand their ground as three of the biggest clubs in the league at the time.
But while Keegan held his nerve, Evans and Ferguson eventually relented. At the time, Alex Ferguson’s reserve team had just produced David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Gary Neville and Nicky Butt.
“It came down to the last week; the club had to sign documents. Liverpool and Man United did it.”
Paul Brayson would be the only player from Newcastle’s class of ‘94 to ever taste first-team action (one appearance vs Bristol City in the Coca-Cola Cup). Speaking in 2021, he told me: “It [scrapping the reserves] was probably the worst decision ever.
“If a decision like that was made by a Premier League club these days, there’d be hell on – outrage. We were just told: ‘There’s not going to be a reserve team this year’.”
Another player admitted, “It sounds awful this, and people will probably hang me for it, but because of Keegan there was nowhere to go in that club. It sounds terrible because he’s an idol for people who I sit and work with every day.
“He wanted rid of the junior team; he wanted rid of the reserve team at the time. We were sitting there thinking ‘Where do we go?’ I lost a bit of interest towards the back end of my time there; most of us were let go at the end of that season.”
The same player also told the tale of the day Keegan threatened to ‘knock him out’. But rather than speak to HR, he admitted: “It was fantastic!”
The incident happened during a game in training. Newcastle at the time shared Durham University’s Maiden Castle sports facilities, training on hockey pitches that the public could walk up to and observe. This meant that sessions were often watched by thousands. Quite intimidating for a teenage youth teamer.
He got up, picked me up by the scruff of my neck in front of everyone. I thought ‘I’m going to get sacked here’
“We were playing 7-a-side, in front of the crowd. Keegan was marking me and kept going down the back of my ankles, winding me up. It got to the point where I thought ‘f*** this!’
So next time he got the ball, honestly, I went through him so badly. He must have went about four feet in the air, and he took a bad landing. He got up, picked me up by the scruff of my neck in front of everyone. I thought ‘I’m going to get sacked here.’
“To be fair to him, he knew afterwards I was petrified; he called me into the manager’s changing room. I went in, tail between my legs, and he just said, ‘I really appreciate you did that, because I was winding you up, I was going down the back of you.’”
Stu Elliot confirmed what is widely known. Keegan’s style was based more around motivation than tactical acumen. “I don’t like using the word old school because it makes you sound old, but did I ever see a tactics board when I was an apprentice, in the reserves or on first team match duty? No.
“Kevin would get up and do a chat before the game: ‘We’re better than them’ A lot of first team players from the time will tell you.”
Elliot also told a jaw-dropping story that underlined Keegan’s cut-throat approach to management.
“He never came and watched reserve games. When Kenny (Dalglish) came in, he watched every game, home and away; he was unbelievable. Once, Kevin came to watch us at Gateshead Stadium. He came in the dressing room after a game; we’d been beaten, we hadn’t played well.
“I can’t remember his exact words, but it was along the lines of: ‘You know you lot, you might as well f*** off now.’ He said, ‘Do you think I need any of you lot? Do you think any of you are going to get anywhere near my first team?’ And we’re like ‘Eh? What!’
“We were hoping he was going to come in and say ‘Listen, it’s one of them, don’t worry, there’s always the next game’. Instead, he went: ‘I’ve got this,’ and he pulled a cheque book out. He said: ‘I can sign anyone I want around the world, you lot might as well not even be here’ and walked out. We were sat there thinking ‘Is this a wind-up? Really!”
It’s a reminder that Kevin Keegan was ultimately a working-class man from Doncaster who had to start at the bottom and fight his way to the top. He backed himself one million per cent, and that is a quality that set him apart from the rest.
He’s known for winning back-to-back Ballon d’Ors, a European Cup and multiple league titles, for his famous perm, for falling off his bike while taking part in BBC Superstars, for doing headers with Tony Blair in a school playground, and for singing ‘Head Over Heels in Love’ on Top of the Pops.
But behind all of that was proper working-class steel and ruthless determination. It all combined to make a true force of nature that you rarely see in life.