(born
10 August ,
1971 in
Mayfield ,
County Cork ,
Ireland ) is an
Irish former professional
Footballer and the current
Manager of
English Premier League club
Sunderland .
A dominating central-
Midfielder , Keane has been hailed as one of the greatest players to grace the game in the modern era. In a highly successful sixteen-year career, he played for
Cobh Ramblers ,
Nottingham Forest and, most notably,
Manchester United , before ending his career at
Celtic F.C. .
Keane was noted for his aggressive and highly-competitive style of play, an attitude which helped him excel as captain of Manchester United from 1993 until his departure in 2005. Keane helped United achieve a period of unprecedented success throughout his twelve-year tenure, during which he established himself as one of the greatest players in the club's history.
1
He played at international level for much of his career, representing the
Republic Of Ireland over a period of fourteen years, most of which he spent as captain. In the
1994 FIFA World Cup he played in every game although he was sent home from the
2002 World Cup after an argument with then-manager
Mick McCarthy .
During his first season as Sunderland manager, he took the club from twenty-third position in the Coca-Cola Championship to the top of the table. His side were promoted to the Premiership on
April 29 ,
2007 and were confirmed as league champions a week later. Keane's arrival has been largely attributed as the catalyst for Sunderland's remarkable recovery.
2
Keane was born into a
Working Class family in the
Mayfield suburb of Cork. His father, Maurice, took work wherever he could find it due to the economic hardships of the time, which led to jobs at a local knitwear company and a
Guinness factory, amongst others. His family were keen on sport, football especially, and many of his relatives had played for junior clubs in Cork, including the renowned Rockmount A.F.C. Before choosing football as his preferred sport, Keane took up boxing at the age of nine and trained for a number of years, winning all of his four bouts in the novice league. During this period he was developing as a much more promising footballer at Rockmount, and his potential was highlighted when he was voted Player of the Year in his first season.
Keane supported
Celtic and
Tottenham Hotspur as a child, citing
Liam Brady as his favourite player, but as time progressed, Manchester United's
Bryan Robson became the footballer he most admired due to the all-action, box-to-box style for which 'Captain Marvel' had become famous.
3 These were qualities which Keane also had in abundance, and little did he know that he would eventually become Robson's long-term replacement at
Old Trafford .
Despite his growing promise, a future career in football began to look uncertain. He was turned down from the Ireland schoolboys squad after a trial in
Dublin ; one explanation was that the fourteen-year-old Keane was "just too small" to make it at the required level. Undeterred, he began applying for trials with English clubs, but he was turned down by each one. As his childhood years passed, he took up temporary jobs involving manual work whilst waiting for a breakthrough in his football prospects. In
1989 , he eventually signed for the semi-professional
Irish club
Cobh Ramblers after persuasion from Ramblers' youth team manager Eddie O'Rourke. Keane was one of two Ramblers representatives in the inaugural FAI/FAS scheme in Dublin, and it was through this initiative that he got his first taste of full-time training. His rapid progression into a promising footballer was reflected by the fact that he would regularly turn out for Ramblers' youth side as well as the actual first team, often playing twice in the same weekend as a result.
In the tough, physical world of the Irish First Division, Keane more than held his own against players much more experienced than himself, his dedication to training noticed by many. In an important FAI Youth Cup match against Belvedere Boys of Dublin, Keane's performance attracted the attention of a watching
Nottingham Forest scout, who asked him to travel over to England for a trial. Keane impressed Forest manager
Brian Clough and his staff, and eventually a deal for Keane worth £47,000 was struck with Cobh Ramblers.
Although delighted to have signed for a big club, Keane initially found life in Nottingham difficult due to the long periods away from his family, and he would often ask the club for a few days' home leave in order to return to Cork. Keane expressed his gratefulness at Clough's generosity when considering his requests, as it helped him get through the tough early days at the club. Keane's first games at Forest came in the Under-21s team during a pre-season tournament in
Holland . In the final against
Haarlem , he scored the winning penalty in a shootout to decide the competition, and soon he was climbing the ranks at the club and playing regularly for the reserve team. His professional league debut came against
Liverpool at the start of the 1990-91 season, and the resulting performance encouraged Clough to use him more and more as the season progressed.
He eventually scored his first professional goal against
Sheffield United , and by 1991 he was a regular starter in the side, displacing the
England International Steve Hodge . Keane scored three goals during a run to the 1991
FA Cup final, which Forest ultimately lost to
Tottenham Hotspur . In the third round, however, he made a costly error against
Crystal Palace , gifting a goal to the opposition and costing his side a victory. On returning to the dressing room after the game, Clough punched Keane in the face in anger, knocking him to the floor.
5 Despite this incident, Keane bore no hard feelings against his manager, later claiming that he sympathised with Clough due to the pressures of management.
6 A year later, Keane returned to Wembley with Forest for the
League Cup final, but again finished on the losing side as his future club Manchester United gained a 1-0 win.
Keane was beginning to attract attention from the top clubs in the Premier League, and in 1992,
Blackburn Rovers manager
Kenny Dalglish spoke to Keane about the possibility of a move to the
Lancashire club at the end of the season. With Forest struggling in the league and looking increasingly more likely to be relegated, Keane negotiated a new contract with a relegation escape clause. The lengthy negotiations had been much talked about in public, not least by Brian Clough, who described Keane as a "greedy child" due to the high wages demanded by the Irishman. "Keane is the hottest prospect in football right now, but he is not going to bankrupt this club," Clough stated. Forest fans, however, forgave Keane by voting him the club's Player of the Season due to his battling performances towards the end of the campaign. Despite his best efforts, Keane could not save Forest from relegation, and the clause in his contract became activated. Blackburn agreed a £4 million fee for Keane, who soon after agreed a contract with the club. However, on the day before the paperwork was due to be signed, Manchester United manager
Alex Ferguson phoned Keane and asked whether he would like to join him instead of Dalglish. He was persuaded to cancel his agreement with Blackburn, and within two weeks he had signed for Manchester United for £3.75 million, a
British Transfer Record at the time.
Despite the huge transfer fee, there was no guarantee that Keane would go straight into the first team. Bryan Robson and
Paul Ince had established a formidable partnership in the centre of midfield, helping United to their first league title in twenty-six years the previous season. Robson, however, was nearing retirement, and a series of injuries kept him out of action at the start of the 1993-94 season. Keane took full advantage of his run in the team, scoring twice on his home début against
Sheffield United in August and grabbing the winner in the
Manchester Derby three months later. He had soon established himself as a permanent fixture in Alex Ferguson's side, and by the end of the season he had won his first trophy as a professional as United retained their Premiership title in May. Two weeks later, Keane broke his Wembley losing streak by helping United to a 4-0 victory over Chelsea in the FA Cup final, sealing the club's first ever
Double .
The following season was a disppointment, however, as United were beaten to the league title by Blackburn Rovers and beaten 1-0 in the FA Cup final by
Everton . He received his first red card as a Manchester United player in an FA Cup semi-final against
Crystal Palace after stamping on
Gareth Southgate , and, as punishment, was suspended for three matches and fined £5,000. This incident was the first of eleven red cards Keane would accumulate in his United career, and one of the first signs of his violent temper leading to indiscipline on the field.
The summer of 1995 saw a period of change at United, with Robson retiring and Ince leaving for
Inter Milan . Younger players such as David Beckham, Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes were brought into the team, which left Keane as the most experienced player in midfield. Despite a slow start to the 1995-96 campaign, United pegged back title challengers
Newcastle , who had built a commanding twelve-point championship lead by Christmas, to secure another Premiership title. Keane's second Double in three years was confirmed with a 1-0 win over bitter rivals
Liverpool to claim another FA Cup.
The next season saw Keane in and out of the side to a series of knee injuries and frequent suspensions. He picked up a costly yellow card in the first leg of the
UEFA Champions League semi-final against
Borussia Dortmund , which ruled him out of the return leg at Old Trafford. United lost both legs 1-0, but this was compensated by another league title soon afterwards.
After
Éric Cantona 's unexpected retirement, Keane took over as club captain, although he missed most of the 1997-98 season because of a
Cruciate Ligament injury caused by an ill-timed challenge by
Leeds United player
Alf-Inge Håland . As Keane lay prone on the ground, Håland stood over Keane, accusing the injured United captain of having tried to hurt him and of feigning injury to escape punishment; an allegation which would lead to an infamous dispute between the two players four years later. During an eight-month spell on the sidelines, Keane watched as United squandered an eleven-point lead over
Arsenal to miss out on the Premiership title. Many pundits cited Keane's absence as a crucial factor in the team's surrender of the league trophy.
7 He initially expressed doubts as to whether he would play again due to the severity of his injury, but he recovered in time to begin pre-season training for the new campaign.
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It was the most emphatic display of selflessness I have seen on a football field Pounding over every blade of grass, competing if he would rather die of exhaustion than lose he inspired all around him I felt it was an honour to be associated with such a player
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Sir Alex Ferguson on Keane's performance against Juventus in 19998
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