Born:              Armthorpe, Yorkshire, 14.2. 1951
Transfer Fee:   £35.000 (from Scunthorpe United, May 1971)
Games:          321
Goals:            100
Manager:        Newcastle United 91/92-96/97, Fullham 97-99, England 99-00
                      Manchester City 2001-05, Newcastle 2008-08
Honours:         European Cup 76/77
                      UEFA Cup 72/73, 75/76
                      First Division 72/73, 75/76, 76/77
                      FA Cup 73/74
                      Footballer of the Year 75/76
                      England Caps: 63 (28 as Liverpool-player)
                      Hall of Fame 99
                      OBE
                      European Hall of Fame: 8.10.08
                      With SV Hamburg: 
                      Bundesliga Player of the Year 77/78
                      German League champions 78/79 
                      European Cup runners-up 79/80
                      European Footballer of the Year 77/78, 78/79
                      PFA Player of the Year 81/82
                       With Newcastle United: 
                      First division champions 92/93
                      Keegan named division one manager of the season
                      Premier league runners-up 96
Other clubs:    Scunthorpe United 68/69-70/71
                      SV Hamburg 77/78-80/81
                      Southampton 80/81-81/82
                      Newcastle United 82/83-83/84
                      Blacktown City Demons 85

At the banquet that followed Liverpool's FA Cup final defeat by Arsenal in 1971, Kevin Keegan ended his first week with the club by announcing to the rest of his table that he was going make his mark at Anfield and become a superstar. His bubbling confidence might have raised a few eyebrows at the time, but after just a few days of pre-season training no one could have doubted the veracity of his prediction for even a second. 
Although his ball control and basic skills were easily good enough for the highest level it was his determination, enthusiasm and the whole-heartedness that really impressed his new team-mates.

So committed was he in training alone that he once had to be dragged away from squaring up to the enormous Larry Lloyd. While in the 1974 Charity Shield his furious response to a sly right hook from Leeds' Johnny Giles ended with him being the first Englishman to be sent off at Wembley as he and Billy Bremner received their marching orders.

After just three weeks, Shankly told Keegan that he would play for England. And that became true only a  little over 12 months later, when he played the first of his 63 games for his country.
Kevin burst on to the Anfield scene with the most explosive and instant of impacts, and in just the manner that would make him a hero of the Liverpool fans in double-quick time. 
He had a blistering turn of speed and the skill to keep the ball under control even when travelling at full pelt. But it was the manner in which he applied himself that did most to win over the judges in the stands.

The tousle-haired lad from Doncaster played with the heart of a man twice his size as he fizzed about the pitch with dizzying zest and apparently inexhaustible energy that would see him chasing back into his own half one minute and popping up on his opponent's goal-line the next.
He was fearless in the box, could hold the ball up for as long as it took for an opening to appear, combined audacity and certainty in his finishing, and was amazing in the air for someone who stood just 5ft 8in tall.

Keegan left Liverpool for SV Hamburg in 1977. At Hamburg he was  voted European Footballer of the Year twice in succession, a feat previously managed only by the great Johan Cruyff. 
The honour officially gave him the international superstar status he had vowed to achieve at that dinner in 1971. 
However, no one who had witnessed his six-year reign as Anfield's king of the Kop required the help of any award to remind them of his true greatness.
In 1999 Kevin Keegan became England manager. Maybe the greatest challenge for this great, little man. 
(Mostly from "Liverpool Greatest Players" by David Walmsley)

KEEGAN FACTFILE 

1951: Born February 14, Armthorpe, Yorkshire.
1968: Joined Scunthorpe as an apprentice. 
1971: Transferred to Liverpool for £35,000. 
1972: England debut against Wales in Cardiff and goes on to help Liverpool win first of three league championships during his time at Anfield. 

1973: Keegan wins UEFA Cup winner's medal as Liverpool defeat Borussia Moenchengladbach. 
1976: Named footballer of the year and helps Liverpool beat Bruges 4-3 on aggregate to win UEFA Cup again. 
1977: A pivotal force in helping Liverpool win the European Cup for the first time by beating Borussia Moenchengladbach. Transferred to SV Hamburg for £500,000. 
1978: Wins Bundesliga championship medal and is voted European player of the year for
1977-78. 
1979: Voted European player of the year for 1978-79. 

1980: Transferred to Southampton for £420,000. 
1982: Last England match as substitute against Spain in Madrid, 1982 World Cup. Won 63 caps, scored 21 goals. 
1982: Voted PFA player of the year and transferred to Newcastle for £100,000. 
1984: Retired from playing. 

1992: Returned to soccer in February as manager of Newcastle and three months later signed a three-year contract. 
1993: Newcastle promoted to Premiership as Division One champions. Keegan named Division One manager of the season. 
1994: Keegan appointed director of football and agreed new deal that tied him to club for next 10 years. 

1995: Newcastle reached quarter-finals of FA Cup and failed to qualify for Europe after finishing sixth in the Premiership. 
1996: Saw his Newcastle side lose 12-point lead at the top of the Premiership and finish second to Manchester United. Blew his top with Alex Ferguson in a live television interview. 
1997: Resigned as Newcastle manager in January. Returned to football on September 25 when appointed chief operating officer at Fulham. 

1998: Sacks his friend Ray Wilkins, the manager, after just seven months and took control of all playing matters. 
1999: Masterminded FA Cup victories over Southampton and Aston Villa to set up away fifth-round tie at Manchester United. 
February 17: Appointed England coach for four matches but stressed he would combine the job with his Fulham duties and guided the club to the Division Two championship. 
May 6: Revealed during a television programme that he will relinquish his post as chief operating officer at Fulham to concentrate on the England job. 
May 14: Appointed full-time England coach. Starts reign with 3-1 win over Poland in a Euro 2000 qualifier. 
May 28: Keegan axes Paul Ince from the squad for the Euro 2000 qualifying games against Sweden and Bulgaria, handing a recall to Manchester United's Teddy Sheringham. 
June 5: Keegan and England suffer a major blow in their qualifying hopes as they are held to a goalless draw by Sweden at Wembley. Previous hat-trick ace Paul Scholes goes from hero to villain as he becomes the first England international to be sent off on home soil. 

July 6: Another crushing blow for Keegan as Bulgaria bite back from Alan Shearer's early goal and earn a 1-1 draw in Sofia. Bulgaria played with 10 men for the last 32 minutes. 
July 26: Keegan hands a shock recall to 37-year-old West Ham defender Stuart Pearce, two years after his last international appearance, to the squad for the matches with Luxembourg and Bulgaria. 
September 4: A bright spot at last for Keegan as England hammer Luxembourg 6-0 at Wembley and, more importantly, Shearer gets the critics temporarily off his back with a hat-trick. 
September 8: England fail to break the deadlock in Warsaw, a goalless draw putting their play-off chances in Sweden's hands. David Batty is sent off for a rash second-half challenge on Radoslaw Michalski. 
October 9: Kennet Andersson and Henrik Larsson save Keegan's blushes when their goals for Sweden defeat Poland 2-0 to earn England a play-off place. 
November: Paul Scholes scores both goals to earn England a 2-0 first-leg victory against Scotland at Hampden Park. Scotland win the second leg 1-0 at Wembley but England qualify for Euro 2000 on aggregate. 2000 

2000
June: England open their Euro 2000 campaign with a 3-2 defeat to Portugal after early goals from Paul Scholes and Steve McManaman had put them two up. Alan Shearer's header earns a 1-0 win over Germany but a 3-2 loss to Romania following a last-minute penalty given away by Phil Neville condemns Keegan's men to an early exit. 

October 7: England suffer a disappointing start to their World Cup qualifying campaign as they lose 1-0 to Germany in the last competitive match at Wembley before work begins to build a new stadium on the site. Keegan emerges after lengthy discussions with Football Association officials to reveal he has resigned as national manager. 

2001
May 24: Signed a five-year contract with Manchester City.

2005
March: Keegan is sacked as City-manager, and says he'll end his manager career.

2008
January 16: Keegan returns to Newcastle, as manager.
September 4: Keegan resigns as Newcastle manager. "I've been working desperately hard to find a way forward with the directors, but sadly that has not proved possible," Keegan said
in a statement.

Thor Zakariassen ©