Harry Keough

:"for Harry Keogh, the main character of the Necroscope books, see Necroscope."

Infobox Football biography
playername= Harry Keough
fullname = Harry Joseph Keough


dateofbirth = birth date and age|1927|11|15
cityofbirth = St. Louis, Missouri
countryofbirth = United States
height =
currentclub =
clubnumber =
position = Defender
youthyears = 1945-1946
youthclubs = St. Louis Schumachers
years = 1946
-1952
1953-1961
clubs = San Francisco Barbarians
St. Louis McMahon
St. Louis Raiders
St. Louis Kutis
caps(goals) =
nationalyears = 1949-1957
nationalteam = United States
nationalcaps(goals) = 17 (1)
manageryears =
1967-1982
managerclubs = Florissant Valley Community College
St. Louis University
pcupdate =
ntupdate =

Harry Joseph Keough (born November 15, 1927 in St. Louis, Missouri) is an American former soccer defender who played on the United States national team in their 1–0 upset of England at the 1950 FIFA World Cup. He spent most of his club career in his native St. Louis, winning a national junior championship, two U.S. Open Cup and seven National Amateur Cup titles. He coached the St. Louis University soccer team to five NCAA Men's Soccer Championships. The Keough Award, named after him, is presented each year to the outstanding St. Louis-based male and female professional or college soccer player.

Playing

Club career

Keough grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, attending Cleveland High School. As a youth he played several sports, including track and swimming, but only excelled at soccer. His career began in 1945 as a member of the St. Louis Schumachers team that won the 1946 National Challenge Junior Cup. [cite web | url=http://www.sover.net/~spectrum/juniorcups.html | title=National Junior Cups | publisher=USA Soccer History Archives | first=Dave | last=Litterer | date=January 22, 2005 | accessdate=2007-11-14] In 1946, he joined the U.S. Navy. He was assigned to a naval base in San Francisco, California where he played for the San Francisco Barbarians which had dominated west coast soccer in the first half of the century. Keough was eventually sent to San Diego as part of a destroyer crew. After his discharge from the Navy, Keough returned to St. Louis where he joined St. Louis McMahon which played in the lower division St. Louis Municipal League. He was with McMahon when selected for the U.S. national team as it entered qualification for the 1950 World Cup. At some point after the cup, Keough moved to St. Louis Raiders of the first division St. Louis Major League. The Raiders won both the league and National Amateur Cup championships in 1952, giving Keough his first “double”. Following the 1952 season, Tom Kutis took over sponsorship of the team, renaming it St. Louis Kutis S.C.. The team continued its winning ways under its new name, winning the 1953 and 1954 league titles. It also went to the 1954 U.S. Open Cup final where it fell to New York Americans of the American Soccer League. The St. Louis Major League had folded in 1954 and Kutis continued to play both as an independent team and as a member of various lower division city leagues over the next decade. Despite this turbulence, it continued to dominate both the city and national soccer scene. Kutis would win the National Amateur Cup each year from 1956 to 1961. In 1957, it won the U.S. Open Cup, giving Keough another double.

National and Olympic teams

In 1949, Keough was called into the national team for the 1949 NAFC Championship, to be held in Mexico. This was the second time the NAFC had held a regional championship, but this one served as the qualification tournament for the World Cup as well. Keough gained his first cap with the national team in its 1-1 tie with Cuba on September 14, 1949. The U.S. finished second out of the three teams, giving it a spot in the cup for the first time since 1937. At the World Cup, Keough served as team capatin for the game against Spain "because he spoke Spanish." He also made appearances for the U.S. team in the 1952 and 1956 Summer Olympics, as well as the qualifying matches for the 1954 and 1958 FIFA World Cups. His last game with the national team was a 3-2 World Cup qualification loss to Canada on July 6, 1957. [cite web | url=http://www.rsssf.com/tablesu/usa-intres-det69.html | title=USA - Details of International Matches 1885-1969 | publisher=Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation | first=Barrie | last=Courtney | date=June 29 2003 | accessdate=2007-11-14]

Coaching

Upon his retirement as a player, he became coach of Florissant Valley Community College. In 1967, St. Louis University hired him away from Florrisant. In his first year with the Billikens, Keough took his team an NCAA co-championship. He then took his team to four additional championships during his tenure (1969, 1970, 1972, and 1973). When he retired from coaching in 1982, he had compiled a 213-50-23 record with SLU.

Recognition

Keough was inducted into the St. Louis Soccer Hall of Fame in 1972, [cite web | url=http://eteamz.active.com/stlsoccerhalloffame/news/index.cfm?cat=466590 | title=St. Louis Soccer Hall of Fame Members | publisher=St. Louis Soccer Hall of Fame | accessdate=2007-11-14] the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 1976 (along with his 1950 U.S. teammates), the St. Louis University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1995, [cite web | url=http://slubillikens.cstv.com/boosters/stlo-boosters-hof-members.html | title=Billiken Hall of Fame Members | publisher=Saint Louis Billikens Official Athletic Site | accessdate=2007-11-14] and the NSCAA Hall of Fame in 1996. In January 2004, Keough and the four other living members of the 1950 World Cup Team (Walter Bahr, Frank Borghi, Gino Pariani and John Souza) were recognized as Honorary All-Americas by the NSCAA at its annual convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Personal

During his playing career, Keough worked for the U.S. Postal Service. Keough's son Ty was also a professional soccer player who played for the U.S. team and is now a sports commentator for soccer broadcasts.

References

External links

* [http://www.soccerhall.org/famers/harry_keough.htm National Soccer Hall of Fame profile]

Persondata
NAME=Keough, Harry
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=American soccer player and coach
DATE OF BIRTH=November 15, 1927
PLACE OF BIRTH=St. Louis, Missouri
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=