Charismatic Keegan wore his heart on his sleeve, on and off the pitch

LONDON, July 20 : Kevin Keegan wore his heart on his sleeve as both a player and manager, and the fans loved him for it.

The former England forward, who has died of cancer at 75, combined charisma and impulsive passion with an ability to score the goals that mattered while never losing sight of where he had come from and what the game meant to so many.

“The fans made me,” former club Liverpool recalled their ‘Mighty Mouse’ as saying once.

“When they started singing my name… what am I, five foot seven with Cuban-heeled boots? But (because of them) I was six foot six.”

A SAVIOUR FOR NEWCASTLE’S TOON ARMY

Known also as ‘King Kev’, Keegan was hailed as a saviour on Tyneside when he returned to his old club as manager in 1992 to stave off relegation to the third tier and take the Magpies back to the top flight with the likes of Andy Cole, David Ginola and Peter Beardsley.

Keegan’s father Joe had been a miner in a South Yorkshire colliery and was a Newcastle fan. 

In the 1995-96 season Newcastle had soared 12 points clear in the title race with their attacking approach, only to be caught and overtaken by Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United.

The pressure took its toll on Keegan and he showed his vulnerability, and impulsiveness, with a finger-jabbing television rant after beating Leeds United 1-0 that has gone down in Premier League lore and is oft-repeated: “I would love it if we beat them. Love it.”

Manchester United won the title and Keegan left Newcastle in 1997, telling the fans: “I feel I have taken the club as far as I can.”

He returned for a second brief and unsuccessful stint in 2008.

Appointed England manager in 1999, the former captain’s ill-fated reign was a rollercoaster that veered from a feelgood 3-1 win over Poland in his first game at Wembley to the final 1-0 defeat to Germany in the last international played at the old Empire Stadium in October 2000.

Keegan resigned after the match, explaining his reasoning to the Football Association’s acting Chief Executive David Davies in a toilet cubicle inside the bowels of the stadium.

“I can’t motivate the players. I can’t get the extra bit out of these players that I need,” he said.

DEMONSTRABLY WORLD CLASS AS A PLAYER

As a player, with a 1970s trademark perm hairstyle, Keegan was demonstrably world class with a talent that was also the product of dedication and sheer hard work.

Keegan began his career as an apprentice at lowly Scunthorpe United, after being rejected elsewhere for being too small, before being signed by Liverpool manager Bill Shankly and joining as a 20-year-old in 1971.

He scored on his debut and went on to make 323 appearances and score 100 goals for Liverpool across six seasons, winning three league titles, one FA Cup, two UEFA Cups and then the European Cup in his last game for the club.

Moving to Hamburg, a surprise choice with bigger European clubs interested, Keegan was twice European Footballer of the Year (1978 and 1979) and the only British player to win the Ballon d’Or twice.

He was capped 63 times for England, 31 as captain. 

Keegan returned home from Germany to play for Southampton in 1980, taking them to the giddy heights of sixth in the old first division, and then Newcastle from 1982 before retiring in May 1984 at the age of 33.

He left St James’ Park by helicopter from the centre circle, still dressed in his black and white strip, and moved to Spain to play golf, assuring everyone that management was not his thing.

Eight years later he was back, an eloquent and wholesome hero with evident passion for the game.

Former Newcastle and England striker Alan Shearer, who had watched his idol as a youngster, is now one of many calling for a statue to be erected outside the ground.

“Kevin ranks as one of the biggest modern Newcastle legends we have ever had,” he told the Chronicle website earlier this year.

“He went so close to winning the league with Newcastle and as a player, it was unbelievable. For him to come and play at Newcastle and do what he did, he was like the Pied Piper.

“He had hundreds of kids chasing after him and I was one of those kids trying to get his autograph.”