Some people simply shouldn’t die and Kevin Keegan had a lofty place in the pecking order. It felt like an attempt to conceal bad news by coinciding with a big event. And there’s nothing bigger than the World Cup Final.
We knew he had cancer, but felt sure he’d beat it. When it came to positivity, he was out on his own. He once said: “Everything I turn up to, I think I'm going to enjoy.
I don't have regrets.” But it was true: the Mighty Mouse had roared his last. Keegan had a sad history with the World Cup: he’d only ever played in it for 26 minutes as a substitute and missed a sitter. His prime came when England were at their lowest ebb, failing to qualify for the 1974 and 1978 finals.
But for that fleeting cameo in 1982, he would have joined the stellar names never to grace the competition: among them Alfredo di Stefano, George Best, Laszlo Kubala, Eric Cantona, George Weah. That was the sort of company he kept. But if the biggest tournament had all but eluded him, he more than made up for it in club football.
He won almost every honour in the club game, including the Ballon d’Or twice, the only British player to do so. He’s also a member of the Fifa 100, a list of the best players chosen by Pele. But few of those would have been longer shots for stardom than this slightly-built, pub team player from Doncaster, England.
By his own admission, the “least talented” Ballon d’Or winner, he often called himself “a weasel” or “a mongrel”. His touch was not velvet, his pace not electric, while George Best said he was “not fit to lace my boots.” He didn’t disagree. He was also just 1.73m short and had been rejected by hometown club Doncaster Rovers.
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