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Kevin Keegan
Kevin Keegan is a household name and is one of the most outstanding and popular players in football today. Here in his autobiography, he tells of his life, starting as a miner's son in the slums of Doncaster and taking him to the heights of his chosen profession, as captain of the England football team.
159 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1977
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 5, 2026
This Kevin Keegan book is quite an interesting look back on his career up to 1977 so just around when he left England for Hamburg which he mentions during the last few pages. In this book, he mainly discusses Liverpool, especially his highly positive views on Shankly and Paisley, and only says about his time playing for England in not very much depth. As well as the quite outdated and derogatory views and sayings that are within this book that were more common place in 1977, some parts of this book are actually quite shocking such as the anecdotes of former Crystal Palace player Mel Blyth drop kicking a cat and Kevin using his baby brother as a goal post. I've copied those parts down below to show you what I mean.
"I was in digs with Mrs Ruby Duce in Edward Street, the house where Ray Clemence stayed before his transfer to Liverpool. Mel Blyth, who went on to win an FA Cup winner's medal for Southampton against Manchester United, was in digs next door at Mrs Ida Baker's house. Mrs Baker had a beagle called Pharaoh or Fezz as we nicknamed him. Fezz was a pest and we hated him. Usually, I like animals but I need to feel that they mean something in life which, Fezz did not. He simply existed, and was fat and lazy. Fezz had a habit of sitting on Mel's chair. When Mel came into the room and saw the dog resting, he would pick him up by the ears, drop him to the floor and half-volley him with his left foot. It is no secret that Mel's left foot came on strongly while he was with Scunthorpe, and Fezz deserves credit for that! Mel told me, "Mrs Baker will ask you to take it for a walk, and when she does, run it round the block and it will never come near you again." But I was the new boy, and when Mrs Baker asked me to take Fezz for a walk, that is exactly what I did. It was quite a struggle, because the dog was so lazy it could hardly stand up. Mel was not pleased with me. When the dog was becoming a nuisance I did decided to give him a run round the block - over the final two hundred yards Fezz was sliding along on his belly with his legs outstretched. When I stopped, he sat down and refused to go any further, and I had to drag him home. I would not have minded so much if Fezz had been old, but he wasn't. He was just totally uninterested in anything except sleeping on Mel's chair."
"I used to take Mike (his baby brother who is 8 years younger than him) to Hyde Park, which was about a mile and a half from where we lived, and when my friends and I played football we would put a coat down for one goal-post and use Mike in his pram as the other. Many a time the ball whacked him in his face, and when we went home he would say, 'Mum our Kevin has used me for a goal-post again.' "
"I was in digs with Mrs Ruby Duce in Edward Street, the house where Ray Clemence stayed before his transfer to Liverpool. Mel Blyth, who went on to win an FA Cup winner's medal for Southampton against Manchester United, was in digs next door at Mrs Ida Baker's house. Mrs Baker had a beagle called Pharaoh or Fezz as we nicknamed him. Fezz was a pest and we hated him. Usually, I like animals but I need to feel that they mean something in life which, Fezz did not. He simply existed, and was fat and lazy. Fezz had a habit of sitting on Mel's chair. When Mel came into the room and saw the dog resting, he would pick him up by the ears, drop him to the floor and half-volley him with his left foot. It is no secret that Mel's left foot came on strongly while he was with Scunthorpe, and Fezz deserves credit for that! Mel told me, "Mrs Baker will ask you to take it for a walk, and when she does, run it round the block and it will never come near you again." But I was the new boy, and when Mrs Baker asked me to take Fezz for a walk, that is exactly what I did. It was quite a struggle, because the dog was so lazy it could hardly stand up. Mel was not pleased with me. When the dog was becoming a nuisance I did decided to give him a run round the block - over the final two hundred yards Fezz was sliding along on his belly with his legs outstretched. When I stopped, he sat down and refused to go any further, and I had to drag him home. I would not have minded so much if Fezz had been old, but he wasn't. He was just totally uninterested in anything except sleeping on Mel's chair."
"I used to take Mike (his baby brother who is 8 years younger than him) to Hyde Park, which was about a mile and a half from where we lived, and when my friends and I played football we would put a coat down for one goal-post and use Mike in his pram as the other. Many a time the ball whacked him in his face, and when we went home he would say, 'Mum our Kevin has used me for a goal-post again.' "
January 28, 2024
I had just read Tommy Smith’s autobiography from a similar era and it would seem that Kevin Keegan was a much more personable kind of guy. There’s a lot of affection in this book, and only a touch of bitterness here and there. There is the obligatory love of ‘Shanks’ and the simplicity of the Liverpool way, and the genuinely interesting journey from Doncaster to Scunthorpe to Liverpool and Hamburg.
As always with these books from the 70s there are just some jaw dropping moments and reflections. For example here, there are anecdotes about working in a hospital for people with disabilities that still have affection and regard for people but just some horrible language representing attitudes of the time. There are various pieces of denigration to other groups, women and Scottish supporters amongst them.
I’m not interested enough in Kevin Keegan to track down more books about his life, but this was o.k. It definitely has the feeling of a cash in book at 28 around the time of the peak of his playing powers, so it’s not comprehensive by any means, but it was interesting enough!
As always with these books from the 70s there are just some jaw dropping moments and reflections. For example here, there are anecdotes about working in a hospital for people with disabilities that still have affection and regard for people but just some horrible language representing attitudes of the time. There are various pieces of denigration to other groups, women and Scottish supporters amongst them.
I’m not interested enough in Kevin Keegan to track down more books about his life, but this was o.k. It definitely has the feeling of a cash in book at 28 around the time of the peak of his playing powers, so it’s not comprehensive by any means, but it was interesting enough!
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