Kevin Keegan

] There were also rumours that McMenemy had charged the whole team of cheating after a 3–0 defeat by Aston Villa in April 1982 to which Keegan took great exception. Although Keegan joined Saints' next pre–season tour, he had already decided to move on to seek a new challenge, and a few days before the start of the 1982–83 season he signed for Second Division Newcastle United for a fee of £100,000.

Newcastle United (1982–1984)

Keegan joined Newcastle United and spent two seasons there, during which time he was extremely popular with the supporters. He played 78 times, scored 48 goals and helped them to promotion from the Second Division in 1984, within a team which also contained Peter Beardsley, Chris Waddle and Terry McDermott. His contribution to Newcastle's promotion, which ended their six-year absence from the First Division, earned him iconic status on Tyneside.

Keegan announced his retirement prior to the end of the 1983–1984 season. His last league game came against Brighton and Hove Albion, scoring in a 3–1 victory. Keegan's final appearance for Newcastle came in a friendly against Liverpool some days later, leaving the pitch in a helicopter whilst still dressed in his kit. He moved with his family to Spain, stating that he would never enter football management, although he did carry out occasional work as a football pundit for British television.

International career

Keegan made his England debut on 15 November 1972 in a 1–0 World Cup qualifying win over Wales. Keegan only appeared in the two matches against Wales during this campaign as England failed to qualify for the 1974 FIFA World Cup.

He scored his first international goal in his third appearance, also against Wales, on 11 May 1974. He scored 21 goals in total for his country in 63 games. He was given the captaincy by manager Don Revie in 1976 after Gerry Francis fell from favour. He retained the captain's armband until his international retirement after the 1982 World Cup.

He only managed one World Cup appearance though, after England failed to qualify for both the 1974 and 1978 tournaments. His World Cup experience was limited to just 26 minutes after injury wrecked his chance in England's 1982 campaign. He recovered sufficiently to appear in their final game against hosts Spain, during which he famously missed a headed chance to break the deadlock.

Managerial career

Newcastle United

On 5 February 1992, almost eight years after his final game as a player, Keegan returned to football as manager of Newcastle United. They had been relegated from the top flight in 1989 and narrowly missed out on promotion in 1990, but in 1991 they had failed to make the playoffs and at several stages in 1991–92 they had occupied bottom place in the Second Division. Following the dismissal of previous manager Ossie Ardiles, Keegan was appointed to simply keep Newcastle clear of relegation to the third tier of English football for the first time.

Survival was achieved and Newcastle would be playing in the new Division One for the 1992–93 season. Most observers tipped Newcastle to finish higher than the 20th position they had occupied the previous season, but an 11–match winning start to the season saw them establish themselves as most people's favourites for the Division One title by October. They led the league virtually all season, and the club record signing of Bristol City striker Andy Cole in February further strengthened their side; Cole netted 12 goals in the club's final 12 games. The addition of Charlton Athletic's Robert Lee bolstered the midfield.

Newcastle were promoted to the Premier League as Division One champions.

Top scorer David Kelly and influential midfielder Gavin Peacock were both sold during the close season, and Keegan brought striker Peter Beardsley back to Newcastle from Everton, six years after he had been sold by Newcastle to Liverpool.

1993–94 was an enormous success for Newcastle as they finished third in the Premier League and qualified for the UEFA Cup, bringing European football to the club for the first time since the 1970s. Andy Cole was the Premier League's top scorer with 34 goals from 40 games, and managed a club record total of 41 goals in all competitions.

Keegan then strengthened his side by signing Swiss World Cup defender Marc Hottiger, Belgium's defensive midfielder Philippe Albert, and Norwich City's quick winger Ruel Fox.

Newcastle won their first six games of the 1994–95 season to top the league and they appeared capable of winning their first league title since 1927. But the shock departure of Andy Cole to Manchester United in January weakened their attack, and the 12 point lead on the league that they had established was eventually lost, and finished the season sixth place in the final table; not enough for even another UEFA Cup campaign.

Keegan made several important additions to the Newcastle side in the summer of 1995; Reading goalkeeper Shaka Hislop, Paris St Germain's French winger David Ginola, QPR striker Les Ferdinand and Wimbledon defender Warren Barton.

Newcastle performed well in the first half of the 1995–96, going 10 points ahead on 23 December 1995 and regaining a similar lead in January. But a 1–0 defeat at the hands of fellow title challengers Manchester United cut the gap to one point on 4 March, and within two weeks Newcastle's lead was overhauled and they were unable to recover it, with a 1–1 draw for Newcastle against Tottenham on the final day of the season handing the title to Manchester United, whose 3–0 triumph at Middlesbrough would have won them the title regardless of Newcastle's result against Tottenham.

It was during the race for the 1995–96 title that Keegan famously directed remarks at the Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson during an interview on live television. His outburst—"I'd love it if we beat them! Love it!"—has gone down in football legend as Ferguson's greatest personal victory over another manager. It appears at 17th place in Channel 4's 100 Greatest Sporting Moments.

Keegan then broke the world transfer fee record by signing Blackburn and England striker Alan Shearer. Shearer made an instant impact on his native Tyneside, despite being on the losing side on his debut, a 4–0 FA Charity Shield defeat at the hands of Manchester United, and scored two months later in a 5–0 victory against United in the Premier League. Newcastle briefly topped the league at several stages in the first half of the season.

On 7 January 1997, Keegan shocked the footballing world by announcing his resignation as manager. A club statement following his resignation read:

"Newcastle United Football Club today announce the resignation of manager Kevin Keegan. Kevin informed the board of his wish to resign at the end of the season, having decided he no longer wishes to continue in football management at this stage in his life. Following lengthy discussions of which the board attempted to persuade Kevin to change his mind, both parties eventually agreed that the best route forward was for the club to, reluctantly, accept his resignation with immediate effect."

Kevin left the club with a short statement reading :

"It was my decision and my decision alone to resign. I feel I have taken the club as far as I can, and that it would be in the best interests of all concerned if I resigned now. I wish the club and everyone concerned with it all the best for the future."

On the Newcastle United DVD 'Magpie Magic', [90||32|||||||||||||||
* [http://www.londonhearts.com/scores/players/keegankevin.html Profile] at [http://www.londonhearts.com londonhearts.com]

Persondata
NAME = Keegan, Kevin
ALTERNATIVE NAMES = Keegan, Joseph Kevin
SHORT DESCRIPTION = Former professional footballer, football manager
DATE OF BIRTH = 14 February 1951
PLACE OF BIRTH = Armthorpe, Doncaster, England
DATE OF DEATH =
PLACE OF DEATH =