Football: death of Englishman Kevin Keegan, double Ballon d’Or, at the age of 75

Englishman Kevin Keegan, one of the best footballers of the 1970s, double Ballon d’Or and winner of the Champions League with Liverpool, died of cancer at the age of 75, his family announced on Monday.

Nicknamed “Mighty Mouse”, after the cartoon “Super-Mouse”, because of his small size (1.73 m) and his combativeness, he was then a revered coach at Newcastle, before having more mixed experiences, notably on the bench of the England team (1999-2000).

Keegan was one of the great architects of the golden period of the Liverpool Reds, with whom he won three English championships (1973, 1976, 1977), the first under the orders of legendary coach Bill Shankly, who had the good idea to move him from midfield to attack.

He crowned his six-year spell on the banks of the Mersey with the European title in 1977, beating Borussia Mönchengladbach in the final of what was then called the Champion Clubs’ Cup. He leaves bitter memories for Saint-Étienne supporters because, in the semi-final, he scored in the 2nd minute of the fatal return match for the Greens (3-1) at Anfield Road.

The following year the Reds retained their title, but without Keegan, who had moved to Hamburg in a surprise transfer, aged 26, lured by a lucrative contract at a time when international transfers were not as frequent as today.

He also shone in Germany, where his performances earned him his Ballons d’Or in 1978 and 1979, helped bring the Bundesliga title back to Hamburg in 1979 after a 19-year drought, but he failed in the final of the European Champion Clubs’ Cup in 1980 against an English club, Nottingham Forest.

He then returned to England, for two years at Southampton and two years at Newcastle, where he ended his playing career in 1984.

– Son of a miner –

This son of a miner, born in the small town of Armthorpe, in Yorkshire, in 1951, emphasized the part of work rather than pure giving in his trajectory. He readily recounted being snubbed by several clubs before getting noticed by Liverpool.

It was quite naturally that he embraced a coaching career, which he began where he had finished his playing career, at Newcastle.

He saved the Magpies, stuck in D2, from relegation, then brought them up to the Premier League in his first full season. In the following years, Newcastle fought for the leading roles, until coming close to the title in 1996 against Manchester United. He left the club in 1997, revered by supporters.

The rest of coach Keegan’s career was less notable: lackluster stints at Fulham and at the head of the English team, which he left after a failed Euro 2000, then four seasons with Manchester City, which he promoted to D1 but left without much performance in 2005.

Despite a failed return in 2008, his last attempt as coach, Kevin Keegan has retained an immense aura at Newcastle over the years. “I took the club as far as I could,” he said. The supporters have not been forgotten.

AFP