When Liverpool and Newcastle United legend Kevin Keegan passed away at the age of 75 it brought back a striking memory for one lifelong West Ham fan.
There has been an outpouring of emotion and some fantastic stories about Kevin Keegan in the wake of the former England captain and manager’s death at the age of 75.
If like me you are in your 40s, Keegan is best remembered for his time as manager of Newcastle United and England.
But a teenage me has a very vivid memory of the great man which it seems apt to share with my fellow West Ham fans and supporters of Newcastle by way of a Hammers News tribute in light of his sad death.
Keegan taught young West Ham fan a lesson after Shearer abuse
Keegan’s death came seven weeks after he revealed he had been diagnosed with stage four cancer.
He was one of English football’s most decorated players, representing Scunthorpe United, Liverpool, Hamburg, Southampton and Newcastle during an illustrious playing career.
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Keegan later went on to manage Newcastle, Fulham, England and Manchester City.
Although he had no affiliation to West Ham, Keegan always seemed like the perfect manager for the Hammers with his exciting, swashbuckling and attacking approach to the game.
Hammers fans of a certain vintage will fondly remember those brilliant Newcastle sides Keegan put together with the ‘you score three, we’ll score four’ mentality.
I’m not ashamed to admit that I loved watching Newcastle in those days, just as I would later enjoy the entertainment Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal teams provided.
Keegan was honest, humble and at times far too self-deprecating given what he achieved in his career – which included two Ballon d’Ors.
There will be many better stories told of the great man from far more interesting people than myself.
Keegan’s rebuke for young Hammer showed the measure of the man
But I feel compelled to share a moment I was fortunate to have with Keegan which taught this West Ham fan a very valuable life lesson which has stuck with me ever since.
It was the mid to late 1990s at Upton Park and Keegan brought his Newcastle side to east London, led by the man who was one of the world’s best strikers at the time, Alan Shearer.
Hands down one of the Premier League’s greatest ever – and the division’s reigning all-time top scorer – Shearer was England captain at the time.
I would have been in my mid-teens at the time and used to sit right on the half-way line at West Ham’s beloved – and much-missed – Boleyn Ground.
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I would get to games early to go down the front and watch the teams warm-up – and sometimes get autographs.
Desperate for the Hammers to win, I probably felt I was doing my team a favour as I heckled and booed Shearer’s every touch in the warm-up.
I absolutely loved Shearer at the time and in reality it was a back-handed compliment that I – delusionally – thought it might get under his skin and put him off.
There was also an element of showing off in front of my mates as I repeatedly shouted Shearer and jeered him from about 50 feet away.
Unbeknownst to me, Magpies boss Keegan, who had brought Shearer to Newcastle for a then world record £16m fee, was signing autographs for West Ham fans from the player and staff seating area behind the dugout at Upton Park.
I felt a firm tap on my shoulder as I was about to belt out another “booo”.
The look on my friends’ faces said it all, they suddenly stopped laughing and their eyes were fixed on the person who had tapped me on the shoulder – Keegan.
“Listen young man, that is the captain of your country, show some flaming respect!” Keegan told me in the most polite rollicking I’ve ever had.
I went bright red, said a sheepish ‘sorry’ then made my way back up to my seat with my tail between my legs.
That moment has stayed with me to this day and boos have only ever left my lips for Frank Lampard since.
Keegan was a great man and that moment showed exactly what he was all about.
A life lesson I have always carried with me.
A statement on behalf of the Keegan family said he was “surrounded by his wife and daughters in his final moments”.
How proud they must all be of a true legend of the game and gentleman.
RIP Kevin Keegan.
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