020 8914 8966
020 8914 8966
Kevin Keegan is a legendary footballer and also manager. He is generally accepted as being the trend setter of curly perms amongst players in the late 70’s and 80’s. Aside from that, Kevin Keegan was one of the best players of his generation.
Scunthorpe United is where it all started for Kevin Keegan in the late 60’s. Between 66 and 71, he played over a 100 games for his team. He scored 18 goals.
Liverpool:
In 1971, just out of his teens Kevin Keegan was scouted by Liverpool who was then managed by the celebrated, former Scotland Internationalist Bill Shankly. Shankly agreed to pay Kevin fifty pounds per week with a transfer fee of £33,000. It didn’t take long for Shankly to see Keegan Keegan’s potential as a striker. Click this Wikipedia link to read more about Kevin Keegan’s career with Liverpool.
After hundreds of appearances and scoring 100 goals for Liverpool, Kevin Keegan decided in 1977 to transfer to Hamburg with a record transfer fee of half a million pounds.
Hamburg (start of the perm years):
Hamburger SV initially was not an easy move for Kevin Keegan. He was not immediately accepted by his fellow players and that sometimes showed on the pitch. In a friendly with VfB Lubeck, Kevin was being targeted by a Lubeck player and after a number of hard knocks Kevin punched him. Knowing he would get sent off, he walked off the pitch before the referee could show the Red Card. He received an eight weeks suspension for that incident.
Kevin Keegan tried hard to be part of the club and he started seeing changes. One of his fellow team mates decided to get a perm and he learned German. He was scoring goals and was announced as a European Player of the Year but he struggled with the training regime set up by the team’s Yugoslavian coach Branko Zebec. Kevin left Hamburg in 1980 to join Southampton.
Southampton:
This is where Kevin excelled, he was on top form. He was voted PFA Player of the year and received an OBE for services to Football in 1982. In his 2nd season he scored 30 goals and was winner of the golden boot. However, that same year he decided to move once again. It was now Newcastle’s turn for the famous perm.
Newcastle United:
This is where Kevin Keegan felt most welcomed by the fans and where he first met Peter Beardsley who he rated with names he had played against like Maradona, Pele and Johan Cruyff. Once again he excelled at his game but after a cup game that didn’t go as expected Kevin decided he wanted to retire. He was 33 and had spent two seasons at Newcastle.
Management had now beckoned and 8 years after his last game, Kevin was back at St James’ Park as Manager. He managed Fulham for a while but had to leave to manage England in 1999. He also managed Manchester City before returning to Newcastle in 2008. One year later Kevin Keegan was now on television as a pundit for ESPN.
Kevin Keegan’s autobiography, My Life in Football was published in 2018
Kevin Keegan is much in demand for his after dinner speaking and you can book Kevin Keegan by clicking on the Enquire Now button below. Or call SpeakOut on 020 8914 8966.
