A tribute to Kevin Keegan? Wow, where to start?!
Write an article? I could write a book and not even begin to do the man justice.
I was lucky enough to be growing up in Northumberland in the mid-nineties, meaning my first proper football memories are the ‘so close’ season, Euro ‘96 and the signing of Alan Shearer.
There was one man at the heart of Newcastle United’s staggering rise from bottom of the second tier to being title contenders and getting heartbreakingly close to winning the league for the first time in sixty-nine years.
The story of ‘The Entertainers’ has gone down in Geordie folklore and would be absolutely sensational in its own right. The fact that years previously, the England captain dropped a division to rescue the one club he wanted to end his career at, reflects an even deeper bond between one man and an entire city. Kevin Keegan was a proud Yorkshireman but his roots from Father and Grandfather lay very much in Tyneside.
Among the many tributes, highlights, eulogies, memories and heartfelt condolences pouring in, I’d like to share a more personal anecdote. A story from January 1997, as yet untold, that truly highlights Kevin Keegan’s love, passion and commitment to all members of the Toon Army:
I was ten years old and in year six of Hexham Middle School. I loved a number of things about school – swapping football stickers with my mates, playing football on the yard, the lunch break and home time. Lessons were far from a priority.
I was football-mad, Newcastle United-daft and desperate to take in my first match at St James’ Park, something I’d get to do just two months later. Lessons were boring (the only thing worse was homework) so you can imagine I wasn’t overly enthused when Mrs Moss said we’d spend the half-term writing acrostic poetry. There was however one saving grace, we could write about any topic we wanted. The possibilities were endless and every lad in the class said they wanted to write poems about their favourite footballers, the teacher (in a moment of pure inspiration on her part) told us if we worked hard and used our neatest writing, she’d send the final work to the club. This turned out to be some of the most enjoyable learning experiences of my young life.
I vividly remember completing poetry about Les Ferdinand, David Ginola, Alan Shearer, David Batty and Shaka Hislop before the end of our project. My teacher stayed true to her word and sent all of our work to St James’ Park. On Wednesday 8th January 1997, Mrs Moss called the register and told us she had some special news before pulling out a letter from Kevin Keegan.
This wasn’t the usual teacher trick of pretending famous people were in touch with them, this was letter-headed from St James’ Park and autographed by the great man himself. He congratulated us on our English project and praised our hard work. A photocopy took pride of place on my wall for years afterwards. Later that day, it was announced that Kevin Keegan had resigned from his position of Newcastle manager stating he felt he’d taken the club as far as he could.
© 1997 The Mag. All rights reserved.
As the years went by and the story unfolded, it became apparent that this was a deeply distressing and conflicting experience for Kevin Keegan who was under enormous pressure from the board to sign a long-term contract for the purposes of the club going on the stock market. Keegan was emotionally drained from missing out on the title just a few months previously and has spoken of the inner turmoil of not wanting to disappoint the fans who meant so much to him by resigning mid-season. Even when he was going through such a traumatic situation, he took the time to write a letter to a group of school children. He showed the generosity of spirit that is often sadly lacking in this day and age and this small act of kindness (when he had far bigger things going on) meant more to me than he’ll ever know.
The three words that sum up Kevin Keegan best for me?
Enthusiastic, inspirational, generous
The match or moment that is my stand out Kevin Keegan memory?
I can vividly remember celebrating each and every goal in the iconic 5-0 victory over Man United. They’d pipped us to the title a few months earlier and then humiliated us at Wembley in the Charity Shield. They were also the only team we’d failed to score against the previous season. It’s safe to say a lot of Toon fans went into this one with a touch of trepidation, especially against such a star-studded line-up. We completely took them apart in one of the most complete attacking performances I’ve ever had the pleasure of watching. It was all-out attack and we absolutely battered them. I was watching at my Godfather’s and can remember being so excited at the final whistle. We recorded the whole thing on VHS and watched it again as soon as we got home. The glory-seekers at school were in for a very long Monday morning indeed! Magic!
I loved Kevin Keegan, we all did. I’m overwhelmingly sad that he is no longer with us but his legacy will live on in our hearts and memories. Rest in peace King Kev.