{"id":812560,"date":"2026-07-20T16:27:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T16:27:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/812560\/"},"modified":"2026-07-20T16:27:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T16:27:10","slug":"kevin-keegan-liverpool-legend-and-former-newcastle-manager-dies-aged-75-soccer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/812560\/","title":{"rendered":"Kevin Keegan, Liverpool legend and former Newcastle manager, dies aged 75 | Soccer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kevin Keegan, the former England and Newcastle manager who was twice European football of the year and a stalwart member of Liverpool\u2019s serial First Division and European champions in the 1970s, has died aged 75.<\/p>\n

Keegan\u2019s family revealed in January that he had cancer, and in June he revealed himself that it was stage four, the most advanced stage. \u201cIt is with immense sadness that we announce that Kevin Keegan has passed away at the age of 75,\u201d read a family statement. \u201cKevin had been battling cancer and was surrounded by his wife and daughters in his final moments.<\/p>\n

\u201cA double Ballon D\u2019or winner, Kevin was a much loved husband, father and grandfather. The family would like to thank Kevin\u2019s incredible medical team for all their support. This is a hugely difficult time and they are requesting space and privacy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Keegan started his career at Scunthorpe before being signed for Liverpool by Bill Shankly for just \u00a333,000 in 1971, \u201cKing Kevin\u201d going on to win the First Division title three times as well as the FA Cup, the Uefa Cup twice and the 1977 European Cup. Keegan is the only British player to have won two Ballons d\u2019Or.<\/p>\n

The 5ft 8in combative \u201cMighty Mouse\u201d was not, by his own admission, a natural talent but the son of a south Yorkshire miner trained hard, remained humble and never ducked a challenge, traits that endeared him to the Kop. \u201cI learned so much from Shanks. He used to say: \u2018If I was a road-sweeper, my street would be the cleanest in the borough.\u2019 I took that to heart,\u2019 he said<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Liverpool\u2019s Ian Callaghan, Kevin Keegan and Ray Clemence parade the winning trophy after the 1974 FA Cup final between Liverpool and Newcastle at Wembley. Photograph: Liverpool FC\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Keegan was twice named European Footballer of the Year while at the German club Hamburg<\/a> and returned to England to play for Southampton and Newcastle before retiring as a player in 1984. He won 63 England caps, scoring 21 goals, playing at the 1982 World Cup and was also captain at the 1980 Euros.<\/p>\n

Keegan was never one to hold back, his fiery temperament rarely far from the surface. He was memorably sent off for scrapping with Leeds\u2019s Billy Bremner in the 1974 Charity Shield after boiling over and his volatile temperament and pugnacious intolerance of football\u2019s machinations, real or perceived. \u201cI don\u2019t like people to deceive me and tell me lies,\u201d he told the Guardian in 2018<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Kevin Keegan in 2008. Photograph: Michael Mayhew\/Sportsphoto<\/p>\n

He wrote newspaper columns, was one of the English game\u2019s first players to have their own branded football boots, had a hit record (Head Over Heels in Love), and became an enduring star of the BBC\u2019s Superstars. He was the public face of 70s aftershave Brut 33 with Henry Cooper. He became close friends with another of the game\u2019s renegades, George Best. \u201cI wanted so much to have his ability. His skill was unbelievable. I played against Cruyff, Beckenbauer, Maradona. But I still say Besty was the best I played against,\u201d he told Simon Hatterstone.<\/p>\n

Keegan retired from playing aged 33 and moved to Spain, where his two daughters grew up unaware he had been a footballer. \u201cIt was the best decision I made in my life,\u201d he told the Guardian in 2011<\/a>. \u201cI was at the highest level and the only way was down. I call it the glass mountain \u2013 you can\u2019t climb a glass mountain.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 1992, Keegan made his first step into management at his former club Newcastle, guiding them into the Premier League and to within touching distance of the 1995-96 title only to miss out to Manchester United. His finger-jabbing \u201cI will love it\u201d rant when Alex Ferguson\u2019s mind-games got the better of him has become part of the English game\u2019s lore.<\/p>\n

After leaving St James\u2019 Park in January 1997, a brief stint at Fulham followed before he became England<\/a> manager in 1999, having initially taken on the job following Glenn Hoddle\u2019s departure. Amid a disappointing Euro 2000 campaign, Keegan resigned on the back of defeat by Germany at Wembley Stadium, after just 20 months and 18 games, winning only seven of them \u2013 the worst win ratio of any England manager.<\/p>\n

A spell at Manchester City followed, but Keegan left the club in March 2005, initially announcing his retirement from football, only to make an emotional return to Newcastle in 2008. That second spell lasted eight months following tensions with the board and owner Mike Ashley<\/a>. In 2009 a tribunal awarded Keegan \u00a32m damages for constructive dismissal.<\/p>\n

\"KevinKevin Keegan\u2019s infamous \u2018I will love it!\u2019 rant \u2013 video<\/p>\n

He was made an OBE in 1982 for services to football, but Keegan\u2019s unreconstructed opinions could offend. In 2023, his questioning the suitability of former England women\u2019s internationals commenting on incidents in men\u2019s international matches landed him in hot water. At a public event in Bristol<\/a>, he told the audience: \u201cI don\u2019t like to listen to ladies talking about the England men\u2019s team at the match because I don\u2019t think it\u2019s the same experience. I have a problem with that.\u201d<\/p>\n

This story will update<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kevin Keegan, the former England and Newcastle manager who was twice European football of the year and a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":812561,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,596,85],"class_list":["post-812560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-football","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/812560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=812560"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/812560\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/812561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=812560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=812560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=812560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}