Kevin Keegan, the former England captain and manager who transformed Newcastle United into one of the Premier League's most exhilarating sides, has died at the age of 75. His family announced on Monday that he had been battling cancer, and was surrounded by his wife and daughters in his final moments.
Among the first to pay tribute was his old managerial rival, Sir Alex Ferguson. "I had the utmost respect for him," Ferguson told Track Radio, recalling the fierce title battles between Manchester United and Newcastle in the mid-1990s. "We had many duels when he was manager of Newcastle, but I have to say the job he did at Newcastle was fantastic."
“Sir Alex Ferguson said Kevin Keegan built Newcastle's best team after the former England manager died aged 75.”
Keegan's first stint at St James' Park ran from 1992 to 1997. He saved the club from the threat of relegation to the third tier, won promotion to the Premier League in 1992-93, and then built a side so dynamic they were nicknamed "the entertainers". Ferguson believes that team was the finest in Newcastle's history. "Kevin carried the love of the game on his sleeve, there's no question about that, and that carried right on to the fans, to the players," he said. "That period at Newcastle was of emotion, it was excitement. They brought these great players to the club too and they added to it, and it gave Newcastle - I think - their best ever team."
Among those players were David Ginola, Faustino Asprilla and Philippe Albert, whom Ferguson described as "three great players" who added class. The 1995-96 title race culminated in Keegan's infamous television outburst - "I will love it if we beat them" - after Ferguson questioned whether Leeds and Nottingham Forest would try as hard against Newcastle as they would against United. Newcastle had led by 12 points but finished runners-up.
Yet the rivalry never became personal. Ferguson recalled meeting Keegan at a pub near Wentworth Golf Club a few weeks after that season. "The great thing about him, he held no grudges," Ferguson said. "That was a fantastic quality he had and we had a great night." All thoughts of the previous weeks were forgotten, he added. "I really respected him for that."
Ferguson joined the flood of tributes for a man he said "re-energised" Newcastle and brought the "enthusiasm and fanaticism" of the supporters into the team. Football has lost one of its most beloved figures, but the legacy of that Newcastle side - which Ferguson calls the greatest in the club's history - will endure.