When Kevin Keegan signed for saints

https://thesefootballtimes.co/2020/04/29/when-southampton-signed-the-two-time-ballon-dor-winner-kevin-keegan-and-no-one-knew-about-it/

I know people have probably seen this before but it's still a good read

I remember it so well!

One of the best days of my life.

One of my best mates at school was a Liverpool supporter,his hero was Keegan.

I remember him running over to me to tell me we had signed him.

He couldn’t contain his excitement Keegan was back in England

I ran home as quick as possible...to see it on the local news.

I then couldn’t contain my excitement...Keegan was at Southampton.

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Most of our excitement was that he moved in down the road from our house. Life became all about Keegan-spotting.

I was an airline captain at the time. I remember well flying in from the Channel Islands and was met at the aircraft door by the BA manager who was a season ticket holder telling me Keegan had just arrived from Germany and was off to the Potters Heron for a news conference, he had spoken to him. There were several Saints supporters amongst the ground crew there was a terriffic sense of disbelief and excitement. It was a great feeling to know at that time we were among the very few that knew that this bombshell news hadn't yet broken. There was no press or TV at the airport it really was a well kept secret. We were signing the current European footballer of the year. It couldn't happen now unless we were handed a bottomless pit of money.

One of my best mates at school was a Liverpool supporter,his hero was Keegan.

I remember him running over to me to tell me we had signed him.

He couldn’t contain his excitement Keegan was back in England

I ran home as quick as possible...to see it on the local news.

I then couldn’t contain my excitement...Keegan was at Southampton.

 

 

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I had similar got home from school opened the front door to hear the phone ringing it was my Liverpool supporting mate who only 5 minutes before I had said cheerio to as he walked off down his street, “You’ve signed Kevin Keegan” WHAT?! “Saints have signed Kevin Keegan! - if you don’t believe me switch on Newsround now!”.

What a moment, made the football world sit up and look at little Southampton FC.

As Lawrie McMenemy said when I met him a few years later and he was discussing this “next season we doubled the ticket prices and no one batted an eyelid” he went on to say that in those days you got a split on the away gate receipts too and if you look at the attendances of the teams we played away the following season just about everyone of their top home attendances were against Saints, such was the box office of Kevin Keegan.

I was at work, in an office, when my Mum rang and told me she was putting the phone to the radio and to listen. I sat there for 10 or 15 minutes that the press conference was on Solent, with my colleagues assuming I was on a business call. She did the same when Bob Willis started bowling the Aussies out at Headingly, the following year.

That evening, I was at a committee meeting for our cricket club that Graham Baker played for. I was spoofed into believing that Keegan had already agreed to play for us that summer.

He did star as our Guest Speaker at next years Dinner and Dance.

I was on a ski ing holiday at the time and used to drink in the hotel bar with a group of Watford fans.

One of them told me about the Keegan story just as he was leaving for home.

In those days we didnt have mobile phones and I thought it was a wind up until I bought a Daily Mail the following day when he was headline news in the sports section.

Remember going to the Guildhall where the club had organised a public announcement of the Keegan story with the promise og more big signings to come.

They were indeed heady days!!