There are some people who become bigger than football, Kevin Keegan was one of them.
Like every Newcastle supporter, I knew this day would come eventually, particularly after his cancer diagnosis. That doesn’t make it any easier.
When I think about Kevin Keegan, I don’t think about statistics or league tables first. I think about how he entertained us.
The first season I can properly remember going to St James’ Park every week was 1995/96. In many ways, it was the best possible time to fall in love with Newcastle United.
It was also the worst.
Keegan’s Entertainers came within touching distance of the Premier League title before Manchester United reeled us in. It was devastating but this seven year old boy was hooked.
Every week it felt like something special could happen.
Every game felt like we might score four.
Every time we attacked, you expected something to happen.
That Newcastle United team made me fall in love with football.
For years afterwards, though, there was always that nagging feeling of what might have been.
The hurt of 1995/96 never really disappeared.
Not until Wembley in 2025.
When Bruno Guimarães lifted the Carabao Cup, it wasn’t just seventy years of waiting that came to an end. It finally felt like the ghosts of that title race had been put to rest too.
As I’ve got older, I’ve realised something else.
I thought I appreciated Kevin Keegan when I was a child.
The reality is I didn’t have a clue.
It was only years later that I understood the scale of what he achieved.
When Kevin returned as manager in 1992, Newcastle United weren’t underperforming. We were on the brink.
Relegation to the old Third Division would have been unthinkable for a club of Newcastle’s size, yet it came frighteningly close to becoming reality. Who knows what the future would have looked like had Kevin not walked back through those doors?
He didn’t just keep us up. He transformed us.
Promotion the following season. Champions of Division One.
Third place in our first season back in the Premier League. European football.
A title challenge that captured the imagination of the whole country.
It almost sounds impossible when you write it down.
Yet somehow, Kevin Keegan made it feel normal.
He made Newcastle supporters believe that anything was possible.
His football wasn’t cautious. It wasn’t complicated. It was brave.
Attack. Score goals. If the opposition scored two, we’d score three. He knew exactly what the people of Newcastle wanted because, in so many ways, he was one of us.
He understood that football wasn’t just about winning. It was about excitement. It was about walking away from St James’ Park feeling like you’d seen something worth talking about all week.
His powers of persuasion became the stuff of legend. Convincing Rob Lee that Newcastle was actually closer to London than Middlesbrough. Bringing Peter Beardsley home and pairing him with the devastating Andy Cole. Then persuading Alan Shearer to turn down Manchester United and come back to his boyhood club.
He also had something that feels incredibly rare today. He was accessible.
Issue 53 – August 1993
When Andy Cole was sold to Manchester United, supporters were devastated. Many were furious. How many managers, then or now, would walk out onto the steps of St James’ Park and explain the decision to the fans waiting outside? Kevin did. Not because he had to. Because he believed supporters deserved honesty.
That relationship with Newcastle United had started long before he became manager. As a player, he’d already transformed the club once. Promotion. Packed crowds. Hope restored. Then, famously, he left by helicopter before disappearing into retirement.
When he came back for a second spell as manager in 2008, it didn’t work. But even then, he reminded us what he stood for. He wasn’t prepared to compromise his principles. He wasn’t prepared to become a figurehead while others made the football decisions. So he walked away. Away from Mike Ashley. History has been kind to Kevin on that one.
When I think about Kevin Keegan, though, there’s one image that always comes back. Newcastle United 5. Manchester United 0. October 1996.
Just months after losing the title to Alex Ferguson’s side, Newcastle produced one of the greatest performances St James’ Park has ever witnessed. It wasn’t just the scoreline. It was the way we did it. Fearless. Relentless. Brilliant. That team played without fear because their manager believed football should be played that way.
For me, that Sunday afternoon captures everything Kevin Keegan gave Newcastle United. Belief. Excitement. Pride.
Issue 94 – November 1996
He wasn’t just a great manager. He was the most important manager in our history. Maybe the most important person in our history.
Years later, during the darkest days of the Mike Ashley era, Kevin offered Newcastle supporters a message that stayed with me. “Don’t ever give up on your club. Keep supporting it. It’s your club and trust me one day you will get your club back and it will be everything you wanted it to be.”
At the time, it felt almost impossible to believe. Today, those words mean more than ever. We kept the faith. We did get our club back, Kevin. You were right.
It is everything I wanted it to be. I’m just so pleased you were still here to see it.
Thank you for everything.
Rest easy, KK.
(Aaron also has his very own Substack)