Goal.com's Top 50 English Players

Goal.com's Top 50 English Players: Kevin Keegan (7)

Goal.com's countdown continues with one of the game's best-known personalities: the one, the only, 'King Kev'...

Jun 16, 2009 6:22:24 PM

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Kevin Keegan - Newcastle United (PA)

Teams

No.50 - John Terry

No.49 - Tony Currie
No.48 - Terry Butcher
No.47 - Gerry Hitchens
No.46 - Paul Ince
No.45 - George Camsell
No.44 - Wayne Rooney
No.43 - Jackie Milburn
No.42 - Roger Hunt
No.41 - Rio Ferdinand
No.40 - Wilf Mannion
No.39 - Frank Lampard
No.38 - John Barnes
No.37 - Nat Lofthouse
No.36 - Eddie Hapgood
No.35 - Chris Waddle
No.34 - David Platt
No.33 - Phil Neal
No.32 - Johnny Haynes
No.31 - Peter Beardsley
No.30 - Ray Clemence
No.29 - Ted Drake
No.28 - Michael Owen
No.27 - Raich Carter
No.26 - Colin Bell
No.25 – Frank Swift
No.24 - Paul Scholes
No.23 - Tony Adams
No.22 - Martin Peters
No.21 - Billy Wright
No.20 - Geoff Hurst
No.19 - Cliff Bastin

No.18 - Steven Gerrard

No.17 - Glenn Hoddle

No.16 - Bryan Robson
No.15 - Alan Shearer
No.14 - Paul Gascoigne
No.13 - David Beckham
No.12 - Dixie Dean
No.11 - Alan Ball
No.10 - Peter Shilton
No. 9 - Gary Lineker
No. 8 - Duncan Edwards

Joseph Kevin KEEGAN

Born           14/2/1951
                   Armthorpe, Doncaster

England      63 caps, 21 goals

Clubs          Scunthorpe United, Liverpool, Hamburger SV,
                    Southampton, Newcastle United

Few figures are as synonymous with English football as Kevin Keegan. His ventures in management and punditry have taken the spotlight over past two decades, but it is his exploits on the pitch above all else that have made him an icon of the game.

Keegan's beginnings were rather humble. Knocked back by Coventry City as a teenager, he was eventually scouted and signed by fourth-division Scunthorpe United whilst playing for an amateur team. He gradually established himself as the key creative influence in the senior side, carving a niche as a right-sided playmaker.

His big break came in 1971, when a certain Bill Shankly came a-calling and took him to Liverpool. It was the legendary Scottish manager who spotted Keegan's attacking talents, and he soon transformed him into a forward - a move which would prove to be something of a masterstroke.

Alongside John Toshack, Keegan formed one of the deadliest strike-partnerships in the game. He was the inspiration behind the Reds' sustained success in the 1970s, the superstar talisman of Shankly's last teams and Bob Paisley's first. Three league titles, two UEFA Cups, an FA Cup and, the crowning glory, the 1977 European Cup.

It was immediately after that high-point of his Anfield career that Keegan left the club. By then the captain of England and one of the most recognisable footballers in Europe, he signed for Hamburger SV to become the highest- paid player in Germany at the time.

On an individual note, things only got better for the stocky, poodle-permed striker. HSV went trohpyless in his first season there, but midway through his second term, Keegan was awarded the Ballon d'Or - a title which he would go on to retain 12 months later.

The Armthorpe-born star spent three seasons in Germany, and, like at Liverpool, his time there came to an end with a European Cup final - although, regrettably, he would not take a winner's medal with him when he made surprise switch to Southampton in 1980. He spent two successful seasons with the Saints and then moved to second-division Newcastle United, before hanging up his boots in 1984.

Keegan's international career had drawn to a close two years earlier, following England's elimination in the second round of the 1982 World Cup - his only appearance at FIFA's showpiece event. His sole European Championship campaign came in 1980. He held the captaincy for six years, from 1976 until his retirement.

The legacy Keegan left as a player is a rich one indeed. As energetic as he was skilful, as passionate as he was brilliant, as charming as he was lethal, the South Yorkshireman was more than just the premier forward of his day; he was a natural leader, and one of the fiercest competitors going around. The late Billy Bremner would attest to that, given the pair's famous bust-up in the 1974 Charity Shield.

His mixed efforts in the dugout and his often hilarious commentary work may have seen his crown slip on occasion in recent times, but that cannot detract fom the fact that 'King Kev' - Liverpool legend, Hamburg hero, lion-hearted England skipper - is, and always will be, football royalty.

HONOURS

Liverpool

First Division: 1972–73, 1975–76, 1976–77
UEFA Cup: 1972–73, 1975–76
FA Cup: 1973–74
FA Charity Shield: 1974–75, 1976–77
European Cup: 1976–77

Hamburger SV

German Bundesliga: 1978-79

Individual

European Footballer of the Year: 1978, 1979
PFA Player of the Year: 1981-82
Inaugural inductee into English Football Hall of Fame: 2002

DID YOU KNOW... Keegan's famous "I'd love it if we beat them! Love it!" outburst - directed towards Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United while he was manager of Newcastle United - was ranked at #17 in Channel 4's '100 Greatest Sporting Moments'?

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