Kevin Keegan haggled Bill Shankly up five pounds a week, then won two Ballon d'Ors
In 1971 a 20-year-old from Fourth Division Scunthorpe sat across from Bill Shankly and talked Liverpool's offer up from £45 a week to £50, bluffing about his current wage. The fee was £33,000. Within a decade Kevin Keegan had won the European Cup, captained England and been named European Footballer of the Year twice.
Keegan was born on 14 February 1951 in Armthorpe near Doncaster, at an aunt's house because it had electricity. His father, a miner from Tyneside, bought him second-hand boots with winnings from a horse bet. A trial at Coventry came to nothing, and he missed one at Doncaster Rovers after being given the wrong time and place. At 15 he ran 50 miles from Nottingham to Doncaster with two friends and started work as an office junior at a brass works, until an opponent in a Sunday league match was impressed enough to arrange a trial at Scunthorpe.
Scunthorpe could not afford nets and trained on a rugby pitch, and the young players took turns driving the minibus to away games. Keegan and four teammates once crashed the club's vintage tractor while timing laps, driving its axle through the engine. He debuted at 17 in 1968, played every league match in 1969–70 and scored 18 goals in 124 games. Liverpool scout Geoff Twentyman recommended him, and Shankly moved him from midfield into attack, where he struck up an instant understanding with John Toshack. He scored 12 minutes into his debut against Nottingham Forest in August 1971.
Liverpool gave him three league titles, two UEFA Cups and an FA Cup, and his last season there ended with the European Cup. He joined Hamburg in 1977, won the Ballon d'Or in 1978 and 1979 and the Bundesliga in 1978–79. After Southampton he helped Newcastle to promotion and retired in 1984, with 204 goals in 592 club games and 21 goals in 63 England appearances, 31 of them as captain.
As a manager he took Newcastle into the Premier League and within reach of the 1995–96 title before they finished second. He led Fulham, then England from February 1999 until resigning after losing to Germany in October 2000, and later Manchester City; three of his clubs won promotion as champions in his first full season. He died on 20 July 2026.
Source: Kevin Keegan
