There will be emotional scenes at St James' Park today as Newcastle and Liverpool supporters celebrate the life of Kevin Keegan
Tributes left by Newcastle United supporters at St James' Park for Kevin Keegan
Tributes left by Newcastle United supporters at St James' Park for Kevin Keegan(Image: Chronicle Live)
Newcastle United and Liverpool fans will unite today to remember the life of the late, great Kevin Keegan.
It's both poignant and fitting that the Magpies and the Reds - the English clubs where he is revered the most - should meet on the opening weekend of the season, a month on from his death at the age of 75. It's also entirely appropriate that the match should be held at St James' Park, where he was adored more than anywhere else for his explosive spells as both a player and manager.
Very few football figures can say they have single-handedly breathed new life into a club. Keegan did it twice with the Magpies. His first spell started with the kind of bombshell we would never witness today.
In 1982, while Keegan was a decorated world star, a two-time European footballer of the year and a European Cup winner, United were in the Division Two doldrums. It was akin to Harry Kane rocking up at a struggling Championship club.
His arrival electrified a fanbase. King Kev scored on his debut and after a fifth-place finish in his first season, promotion followed in his second and final one as a player. It was a short stint but one that left an indelible impression on fans.
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On Valentine's Day 1984, the date of his 33rd birthday, Keegan announced he would retire at the end of the season. His departure was as dramatic as his arrival as he flew off in the helicopter from the St James' pitch. As the Chronicle's own John Gibson put it: "Hollywood couldn't have done it better."
Keegan was a man of the world and very much his own person. He was one of the first English players to make a real success of playing abroad after joining Hamburg from Liverpool in 1977.
His three years in Germany saw him win the Bundesliga, reach the European Cup final and win two Ballon d'Ors. After hanging up his boots, he spent a lot of time in Spain honing his golf before answering another call that would shape United's modern history.
Kevin Keegan following his shock arrival at Newcastle in 1982
Keegan following his shock arrival at Newcastle in 1982(Image: Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
It was Keegan's first go at management and something of a risk, but there was a feeling that his charisma could again galvanise a disgruntled fanbase and a struggling club. Cue the birth of The Entertainers.
After storming back to the top flight, there was no prospect of consolidation. In fact, Keegan banned that particular word, declaring: "I've heard some people talk about consolidation, so we banned that word straight away."
Keegan and his side enriched the Premier League with a wonderful brand of football that came so close to delivering the title. There were also some iconic soundbites, like his "I'd love it" rant against Alex Ferguson. It remains many fans' favourite Newcastle side.
He made the players believe just as much as the fans. Take John Beresford, who told the Chronicle in 2021: "The first thing Kevin said was, 'You'll sign for me today, we'll get promoted this year, then within a year we will get into Europe. Oh, and I'll get you in the England squad too.'
Kevin Keegan and his Newcastle United team salute fans at St James' Park in May 1996
Keegan was so close to leading the Magpies to the Premier League title(Image: Mirrorpix)
"I was sat there thinking, 'He's crazy!' But you know what, in my first two years we did get up, we got into Europe and I was called up for England when Newcastle were still in the Second Division.
"Keegan said to me after my first year: 'I told you John and you signed, thanks for believing in me.' So Kevin was one of the greatest people I met in my life. That's not just as a manager, as a person as well."
His magnetic personality was also key to bringing Alan Shearer home for a world record fee. Much like his arrivals and previous departure, the end of his reign was dramatic as he shockingly resigned in January 1997.
But the affection towards him from the north-east never dimmed, and he was given a hero's welcome when he returned to St James' as Manchester City manager for an FA Cup tie in 2002.
He performed a similar revival job at City, who he also led back to the Premier League with the kind of attacking football that had become his hallmark.
In between, he answered the nation's call by leaving ambitious Fulham to take charge of England. He got the Three Lions to Euro 2000 but with a squad short on quality, England fell in the group stage despite a memorable win over Germany, with Shearer scoring the winner.
It was a measure of the man that Keegan knew when he had taken a team as far as he could. He didn't agitate for the sack and in the hope of securing a big payoff, as many managers do nowadays.
Following a World Cup qualifying defeat to Germany at the old Wembley's last-ever game, Keegan told his players that he would be stepping down.
The likes of Tony Adams and David Beckham urged him to change his mind. The FA's David Davies tried to do the same, with the pair holding emergency talks in the toilets as it was the only place where privacy could be assured.
Kevin Keegan was one of England's least successful managers
Keegan showed his class and honesty at the end of his England reign
Per Davies' autobiography, Keegan said: "You can't change my mind. I'm out of here. I'm not up to it. I'm going out to the press to tell them I'm not up to it. I can't motivate the players. I can't get the extra bit out of these players that I need."
It was a very harsh assessment but one Keegan steadfastly believed. He struck a similar stone when he faced the media, his resignation having been reluctantly accepted.
There was another emotional return to Newcastle in 2008 but it would sadly last just eight months after a fallout with Mike Ashley. Effectively retiring from management, Keegan did occasional punditry work and some personal appearances, but he remained largely out of the spotlight.
His affection for the Magpies and Tyneside, which was reciprocated in spades, remained undimmed, though, and it continues to burn bright following his passing. There may not be a dry eye in the house when his incredible life and career are celebrated by the fans who adore him the most.
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