Kevin Keegan (1971–1984, Liverpool / Hamburg / Southampton / Newcastle United)

Kevin Keegan was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2002, he is a founding inductee.

Joseph Kevin Keegan was born in Armthorpe, Doncaster, on 14 February 1951. After starting his career at Scunthorpe United in 1968, Keegan was signed by Liverpool manager Bill Shankly for £35,000 in 1971.

Scoring on his debut against Nottingham Forest on 14 August that year, Keegan went on to make 323 appearances and score 100 goals for the club over six seasons.

At Liverpool, Keegan won three First Division titles, two UEFA Cups, the FA Cup and the European Cup. Named FWA Footballer of the Year in 1976, he moved to Hamburg in June 1977 for a British record fee of £500,000. In Germany, Keegan won the Bundesliga title in 1978–79 and was named European Footballer of the Year in both 1978 and 1979.

Keegan returned to English football with Southampton in 1980, winning the PFA Players’ Player of the Year award in 1982 and finishing as the First Division’s top scorer with 26 goals. A move to Newcastle United followed in 1982, where Keegan helped the club win promotion from the Second Division before retiring in 1984.

Keegan earned 63 England caps and scored 21 goals between 1972 and 1982, captaining the side on 31 occasions including at UEFA Euro 1980. A founding inductee of the English Football Hall of Fame in 2002, he was awarded an OBE for services to association football in 1982.

Kevin Keegan – Rookie Cards and Significant Others

Keegan’s earliest confirmed collectable issues come from his first Liverpool season (1971–72). The 1971 Nabisco/Shredded Wheat Bob Wilson’s Soccer Action #8 was issued as stickers in sheets of three (and is often found cut down into singles).

Alongside it, the 1971–72 Marshall Cavendish Book of Football: Top Teams #151 is the key hand-cut portrait issue from the early partwork, which ran in weekly parts and included centre-page sheets of 16 colour star portraits in its first run of issues.

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The next cluster of mainstream UK issues arrives in 1972–73.

The 1972–73 F.K.S. Wonderful World of Soccer Stars #158 (Liverpool) is a major early-career sticker, while the 1972–73 Top Sellers/Panini Football 73 #177 (Liverpool) is the best-known card-format entry from that season.

Also from 1972–73, the Esso ESV-6 Soccer Superstars Top Team Collection includes a Kevin Keegan (Liverpool) disc, found with and without an oval around the word “Esso”.

The same season includes The Sun’s Football Encyclopaedia & 3D Album “3-D” cards, obtained via token redemption and intended for mounting in the album.

If the early Liverpool run is being extended into A&BC issues, the first is A&BC Footballer 1973–74 (Blue backs, Series 1) #8 (Liverpool), followed by A&BC Footballers 1974–75 (Red backs) #85 (Liverpool).

See the 2002 Hall of Fame Inductees or browse the full list.