Liverpool 3 v Newcastle United 0, Liverpool captain Emlyn Hughes holds up team-mate Kevin Keegan as they celebrate after their 1974 FA Cup final win over Newcastle United at Wembley Stadium in London on 4th May 1974. (Photo by Bob Thomas Sports Photography via Getty Images) 1970s
Liverpool 3 v Newcastle United 0, Liverpool captain Emlyn Hughes holds up team-mate Kevin Keegan as they celebrate after their 1974 FA Cup final win over Newcastle United at Wembley Stadium in London on 4th May 1974. (Photo by Bob Thomas Sports Photography via Getty Images) 1970s
Kevin Keegan was one of the greatest footballers England has ever produced, and his very best playing days came as he drove Liverpool to European glory.
Few players have ever reached the cultural status held by Kevin Keegan at the peak of his playing days.
He attacked everything at full throttle. He was a great manager, a high-profile celebrity, an entertainer, an incredible footballer and, above all, a brilliant person.
With 100 goals for Liverpool in 323 appearances, Keegan was very recently ranked 14th in the club’s greatest players of all time.
Kevin Keegan
Kevin Keegan leads Liverpool out at Anfield (PA Images)
Kevin Keegan leads Liverpool out at Anfield (PA Images)
Date of birth: Feb 14, 1951 (Armthorpe)
Date of death: July 20, 2026 (Age 75)
Signed: 1971 | Left: 1977
Apps: 323 | Goals: 100
LFC Honours: European Cup (1977), UEFA Cup (1973, 1976), First Division (1973, 1976, 1977), FA Cup (1974)
Individual Honours: Ballon d’Or (1978, 1979), FWA Footballer of the Year (1976), PFA Players’ Player of the Year (1982)
Born near Doncaster on Valentine’s Day of 1951, Keegan was the child of Joe and Doris Keegan.
Kevin came from a mining family; his father and grandfather had worked down the pits. The latter, Frank, even helped save lives in the 1909 West Stanley disaster.
Keegan grew up hearing stories of past Newcastle greats, with Jackie Milburn a particular favourite of his father.
The youngster’s distant dreams of being a professional were merely that, though, just a dream. He was told that he would never play sport due to the bronchitis he suffered as an infant.
ESPN pundit Kevin Keegan prior to kick-off
ESPN pundit Kevin Keegan prior to kick-off
Despite the early illness, at school Keegan played cricket and rugby, as well as football, before leaving with just two O-Levels to begin life at a brass works.
Keegan went on to twice win the Ballon d’Or, but his journey to the top wasn’t linear. Coventry rejected him for being too short before he managed to get in at Scunthorpe as an apprentice.
A dream start after almost arriving late!
By 1971, he was attracting from elsewhere and Liverpool were set on their new striker, paying £33,000 for the 20-year-old.
Kevin Keegan, Liverpool. 1970s
Kevin Keegan, Liverpool. 1970s
This was a big move for the Yorkshire-born kid. In fact, he very nearly missed his debut for the Reds as he struggled to get to Anfield, with police officers at road blocks unconvinced of his claim that he was Bill Shankly‘s new signing.
They wouldn’t make that mistake again, for Keegan scored 12 minutes into his first match against Nottingham Forest.
Very quickly, he formed a formidable partnership with John Toshack up front, the pair nicknamed the ‘Dynamic Duo in reference to Batman and Robin.
The duo spearheaded Shankly’s second great Liverpool team that won the league and UEFA Cup in Keegan’s second season at the club – he scored twice in the Reds’ 3-2 aggregate victory over Borussia Monchengladbach in the final.
That campaign, Keegan scored 22 and set up 19 goals in all as the Reds won their first silverware for seven years.
The following season, he again made the difference on the biggest stage, netting twice in a 3-0 FA Cup final win over Newcastle.
Paisley replaces Shankly but same old Keegan
Like the supporters, Keegan came to idolise Liverpool’s manager and saw him as a father figure. Keegan loved Shankly as much as he loved Liverpool Football Club.
He was willing to go to battle for the team, as evidenced in the 1974 Charity Shield final against Brian Clough’s notoriously heavy-handed Leeds side.
Having been earlier hit in the face by Johnny Giles, tempers reached boiling point when Keegan and Billy Bremner exchanged fists, leading to them becoming the first players to be sent off at Wembley in a domestic game.
Liverpool's Kevin Keegan celebrates with the FA Cup
Liverpool's Kevin Keegan celebrates with the FA Cup
After an 11-match ban, Keegan went straight back into the team with a new manager at the helm, Bob Paisley, who had been promoted from assistant following Shankly’s shock retirement.
While Shankly was the godfather of Keegan’s career, Paisley was arguably to thank for him becoming a superstar on the world stage.
With the quiet genius now in charge, Liverpool went up another level as they set their sights on European domination. After a second place finish in 1975, the Reds won the title and UEFA Cup again the year after.
And no surprise, Keegan was on hand to score in both legs against Club Brugge.
The next season, they would go one better, once again meeting Monchengladbach in a European final, this time at the top table.
Keegan didn’t score in the final itself – Terry McDermott, Phil Neal and Tommy Smith got the goals – but he still played a very important in one of the club’s greatest nights.
Moving to Hamburg
ROME. ITALY. 26.05.1977 Kevin Keegan poses for a photograph with the European cup in Rome, before flying home. His black eye clearly visible. (Getty Images) 1970s
ROME. ITALY. 26.05.1977 Kevin Keegan poses for a photograph with the European cup in Rome, before flying home. His black eye clearly visible. (Getty Images) 1970s
Now an established superstar, the 1977 European Cup final was his last game for the club after six glorious years. Hamburg was his next destination.
It was in Germany that Keegan cemented his place as an icon outside of Merseyside, becoming one of the first footballers to merge the his sporting and celebrity status9
Keegan fronted everything from Patrick football boots to road safety adverts and continued his foray into the music industry, releasing his second single, Head Over Heels in Love, in 1979, which reached No. 10 in Germany.
The newcomer didn’t get off to quite the flying start at Hamburg that he enjoyed in Liverpool, but he soon got back to his best, finishing runners up in the 1979 European Cup while winning the 1978 and 1978 European Footballer of the Year award (this would become the Ballon d’Or).
After winning the First Division title twice more, as well as the UEFA Cup and European Cup in 1977, Kevin Keegan (second left) joined German side Hamburg, where he would go on to be crowned European Footballer of the Year in 1978 and 1979 (PA). 1970s
After winning the First Division title twice more, as well as the UEFA Cup and European Cup in 1977, Kevin Keegan (second left) joined German side Hamburg, where he would go on to be crowned European Footballer of the Year in 1978 and 1979 (PA). 1970s
His exploits were such in Germany that he earned another nickname, Machtif Maus, or Mighty Mouse in English.
After two years, he returned to England and spent a couple of seasons each at Southampton and Newcastle.
Kevin Keegan: More than a player
Keegan wasn’t successful as a coach as he was a player, but he certainly made his mark on English football and gained hero status on Tyneside.
When he arrived at Newcastle as manager in 1992, his task was to save them from relegation. Never dull, Keegan’s early days as the coach were tumultuous.
PA NEWS PHOTO 4/5/74 A LIBRARY FILE PICTURE OF ALAN KENNEDY OF NEWCASTLE UNITED AND KEVIN KEEGAN OF LIVERPOOL IN A DUEL DURING THE FA CUP FINAL AT WEMBLEY IN LONDON. LIVERPOOL WON THE MATCH 3-0. 1970s
PA NEWS PHOTO 4/5/74 A LIBRARY FILE PICTURE OF ALAN KENNEDY OF NEWCASTLE UNITED AND KEVIN KEEGAN OF LIVERPOOL IN A DUEL DURING THE FA CUP FINAL AT WEMBLEY IN LONDON. LIVERPOOL WON THE MATCH 3-0. 1970s
He was forced to make tough decisions, but eventually, his spirited attitude translated onto the pitch. Known for their relentless attacking style with skillful wingers, Newcastle morphed into a real force.
As coach, he should have brought home the Premier League title in 1996, a season that saw Keegan come out with several iconic quotes and emotional reactions, not least, “I will love it if we beat them!”
Keegan was one of the few true Liverpool legends who didn’t solely belong to the Kop.
Adored as a coach in Newcastle and idolised at Anfield, there were many iterations of the great man – he thrived in all of forms.
There was the England captain and manager Keegan; there was the emotionally driven coach Keegan; there was the cultural behemoth Keegan.
Liverpool had the player Keegan, and what a player he was. This was our Keegan.