Newcastle United and Liverpool are in discussions over a tribute to Kevin Keegan before their Premier League season opener on Sunday, 23 August (16:30 BST). Keegan, who scored 28 goals and contributed 13 assists in his final season as a player at St James' Park, died at the age of 75 this week. In a club statement, Newcastle United confirmed they are in communication with Liverpool "to ensure his memory is marked fittingly before the game".
Sir Alex Ferguson has paid tribute to Newcastle and England legend Kevin Keegan, who passed away on Monday at the age of 75. The Scottish manager and Keegan shared one of the most famous rivalries in Premier League history as Manchester United and Newcastle United battled for the title in 1996.
Ferguson says Keegan’s Newcastle was their best team‘Kevin carried the love of the game on his sleeve’Sir Alex Ferguson has saluted Kevin Keegan for building Newcastle’s “greatest team”. Keegan, who had cancer, died on Monday at the age of 75 and Ferguson has joined the tributes for one of football’s most endearing characters.Ferguson and Keegan were involved a fierce battle for Premier League supremacy, with Ferguson’s Manchester United pipping Newcastle to the title in 1996. “I had the utmost respect for him,” Ferguson told Track Radio. “We had many duels when he was manager of Newcastle, but the job he did at Newcastle was fantastic. He re-energised that club and he brought that enthusiasm and fanaticism great supporters can give. Continue reading...
John: I have great memories of Kevin Keegan's Championship title promotion season, establishing City in the Premier League, and of his tremendous impact on the direction and ambition of the entire club during his time as manager. A true great as a player, and a special manager who did so much to revive sleeping giants, Newcastle, Fulham and Manchester City. People may see his period as City manager as a footnote in his wonderful career, but his four years at City were as entertaining as it gets.
Former Fulham defender Rufus Brevett says the late Kevin Keegan made his players "feel a million dollars". Brevett was signed by Keegan midway through his two-year spell as Cottagers boss in 1998, and the pair helped the club win the second division and clinch promotion to the Premier league.
Kevin Keegan's management trademark was all-out, thrilling attack, with his former Liverpool and Newcastle team-mate Terry McDermott at his side and charismatic chairman Sir John Hall shaping the off-field strategy. Matters were quickly resolved and soon Newcastle were on their way. Having saved Newcastle from relegation to the third tier, Keegan inspired them to promotion to the Premier League, finishing only behind champions Manchester United and Blackburn Rovers in 1993-94 with goals and creativity provided by strikers Andy Cole and the returning Peter Beardsley.
Kevin Keegan, who has died aged 75, was one of football's most charismatic and influential figures in a career of many chapters that took him from superstar player to elite manager. Keegan's career was a reflection of himself. Keegan could not resist the lure of the game and succeeded Joe Royle as Manchester City manager after relegation from the Premier League in May 2001.
The former England manager may be remembered by many for his ‘I’d love it’ rant in 1996, but that should not obscure the remarkable nature of his football careerKevin Keegan, who has died aged 75, is the only British player to win the Ballon d’Or twice, was the star of Liverpool’s first European Cup-winning team, a messianic figure at Newcastle United as a player and coach, forging a team so memorable that Fifa’s president wrote to commend him, and was the captain and then manager of the England men’s national team. And yet, as Keegan would ruefully reflect, he will principally be remembered by many for an emotional outburst that precipitated Newcastle’s historic failure in a Premier League title race, a TV interview which presaged the coming era of the modern game.Keegan’s “I’d love it” rant of April 1996, directed at Alex Ferguson, became a meme before the modern meaning of the word and social media even existed, repeatedly played on Sky Sports and becoming indelibly marked in the minds of multiple generations, many not even born when it occurred. It frequently tops polls as the most memorable moment in Premier League history and foreshadowed an era where digital clips and personality narratives would dominate football coverage. Continue reading...
