Newcastle United thrilling 4-3 win against Leeds at St James’ Park was a fitting get-well-soon message to their all-time hero after his cancer diagnosis was made public
Writing a tribute to someone who is alive and kicking can feel a little odd. And Kevin Keegan is certainly very much alive and kicking.
In my memory, there has been no character in football more irrepressible than Keegan. So, when his cancer diagnosis was made public, the normal course of action would be to wish him well, send love, and hope he can pull through. Reflections on a remarkable career can wait.
But no. The news of his illness struck a chord, sounding a sad reminder not just of how Keegan’s contribution to football has been and remains scandalously under-appreciated, but of how we should celebrate the array of figures who form the game’s history.
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And that feeling is only exacerbated by the dreadfully sad news of Terry Yorath’s passing. Not to mention Martin Chivers. Like Keegan, giants of the sport.
Yes, without sounding stuck in the ancient past, football existed gloriously prior to the time in the early 1990s when the first division changed its name. And in Keegan, it had a superstar who, as a player, has never been given the acclaim he deserves.
His place in Liverpool’s history books is a nuanced one. One of its greatest-ever players, for sure. And recognised as such by generations of fans.
But he left the club of his own accord, joining SV Hamburg in 1977 for a new challenge and for a lucrative pay-day. Keegan, though, did not just collect an array of medals during his time at Anfield – three league titles, two UEFA Cups, an FA Cup and a European Cup – he produced defining individual performances.
One of those was in the 1977 European Cup final when he destroyed Berti Vogts – acknowledged then as one of the world’s best defenders – in Liverpool’s 3-1 win over Borussia Mönchengladbach in Rome. And, ironically, another was in the 1974 FA Cup final against his beloved Newcastle United, when he scored twice in a 3-0 victory for Bill Shankly’s side.
He was truly a talismanic player. And can you imagine the fuss in this era if an English player won the Ballon D’Or twice in two years, as Keegan did in 1978 and 1979 when in Germany?
Not only that, Keegan was recognised four times by Onze Mondial, the prestigious French magazine that gives annual awards to Europe’s best players. He won the Onze D’Or in 1977 and 1979 and the Onze D’Argent (silver award) in 1976 and 1980.
In other words, over half a decade, Keegan was the Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo of his time. With a curly perm. And falling off his bike on Superstars.
Keegan has always been relatable – that is why his ‘I would love it’ soliloquy raises a knowing smile to this very day. As a get-well-soon message, Newcastle United’s 4-3 victory over Leeds United on the day Keegan’s cancer battle became known could not have been more poignantly and wonderfully written.
Even in defeat, a despairing Keegan in the dug-out when Stan Collymore hit the winner against Newcastle in that famous Anfield match remains a fantastic image of what football means to the common man and woman. But then Keegan is and always has been a man of the people. Get well soon, King Kev.
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