Former Newcastle United and Liverpool star Kevin Keegan has passed away after a battle with cancer and the English football legend was never shy when talking about his career
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Kevin Keegan is an iconic figure of English football(Image: BBC Sport)
Kevin Keegan admitted before his death that people mainly remember him for his hair, an appearance on TV show Superstars and his famous “love it if we beat them” line. The 75-year-old died after being diagnosed with cancer.
‘King Kev’ had an illustrious playing career and built one of the most popular teams of the Premier League era at Newcastle United. The former forward leaves his wife of 51 years, Jean, and their children, Laura Jane, 47, and Sarah Marie, 43.
In a statement released on Monday, his family said: “It is with immense sadness that we announce that Kevin Keegan has passed away at the age of 75. The former England player and manager had been battling cancer and was surrounded by his wife and daughters in his final moments.
“Kevin, a double Ballon D’or winner, was a much loved husband, father and grandfather. The family would like to thank Kevin’s incredible medical team for all their support. This is a hugely difficult time and they are requesting space and privacy.”
As a player, he was fearless, and famous for his Brut adverts with Henry Cooper, pop singles, curly perm, and an episode of the TV show ‘Superstars’, filmed in Bracknell in 1976, where he fell in a bike ride but got back on again despite being injured.
In the late 90s, he managed a Newcastle side nicknamed ‘The Entertainers’ because of their fearless brand of attacking football. Keegan famously said, “I will love it if we beat them,” in a TV outburst aimed at then Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, after the Magpies gave up a 12-point lead and were beaten to the title by United in 1996.
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That reaction came after Ferguson questioned whether Leeds United and Nottingham Forest would try as hard against Newcastle as they would against his Red Devils side. And Keegan recalled his career in a BBC interview before his death.
He said: “It’s a lesson in life. You can win the Ballon d’Or, you can win the European Cup, you can win all the league titles you want, but people remember me from my hair, the perm, they remember me falling off a bike in Superstars, a lot of people, and they remember the ‘I’d love it if we beat them’.
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Kevin Keegan and Sir Alex Ferguson went head to head for the title in the 95/96 season
He said: “It’s a lesson in life. You can win the Ballon d’Or, you can win the European Cup, you can win all the league titles you want, but people remember me from my hair, the perm, they remember me falling off a bike in Superstars, a lot of people, and they remember the ‘I’d love it if we beat them’.
“So it’s life. You have to accept it.
“It doesn’t matter what you think; it’s what other people think. It was, [the love it if we beat them line], probably at that time a realisation that we weren’t going to win the league.”
Ferguson recalled a heartwarming encounter with Keegan, just days after the famous outburst. In an interview with Track Radio, the Scot said: “That was Kevin, he was all emotion and he brought that to the team as well. They played for Kevin Keegan, there’s no question about that.
“The interesting thing about the outburst from Kevin, two weeks after the season had finished, I was playing golf with some friends and went to a great bar up the road, nice food. We went up there, and who walks in? Kevin Keegan and he spent the rest of the night on the piano.
“The best thing about him is he held no grudges, that was a fantastic quality he had. We had a great night, he would always say – whatever happened in previous weeks, that was soon forgotten. I really respected him for that.”
