The Messiah

Even though I had been prepared for it, because we were told Kevin Keegan had cancer earlier this year, it still hit me hard when news of his passing reached me yesterday afternoon.

'Kevin Keegan' was my first favourite football player. Putting it that way doesn't put it in the correct context, however.

Back when I was a toddler, maybe a tad bit older, either my parents or relatives (likely the latter if I had to gamble) handed me a football book and I asked who one of the players happened to be. They told me it was Keegan and I remember them trying to teach me to say his name.

It resulted in me uttering the words 'Kevin Keegan, Kevin Keegan' when I would play with soft footballs around my living room. 

I tried looking for the book on eBay last night. I came across Kevin Keegan annuals, Shoot annuals and others. My search was in vain. Nothing stood out. 

There's also a photo of me in a red and white striped hat and scarf which pops up every now and again. I don't recall if it was 'Kevin Keegan, Kevin Keegan' Liverpool related, but it would have been from around that time just going by how old I would have been when it was taken.

What I do know for sure is this - the Irish side of my family turned me to the dark side - Manchester United - after Keegan had retired. I had a new 'Kevin' to follow in Kevin Moran. I even had a Kevin Moran United licensed football.

I was a passive Manchester United supporter for most of that early childhood. By the early 1990s, with the Premier League in its infancy, United was no longer my team. I would go to watch Cardiff City at Ninian Park but it was okay back then for us to have a Premier League team to support. 

Keegan had returned to Newcastle United by then. He had delivered the team to the top flight. It was only appropriate for me to renew my 'Kevin Keegan, Kevin Keegan' fandom. Newcastle United became my team. 

All because of Keegan.

What a ride it was to be on that Newcastle United bandwagon. I experienced some amazing highs (Newcastle's 5-0 rout of Manchester United in October 1996 immediately comes to mind) and an incredible low which saw me close to tears over a football game for the first time in my life.

Cardiff City had drawn either Luton or Newcastle at home in the FA Cup fifth round during the 1993/94 season. I bought tickets for the game expecting City to meet Newcastle. I figured there would be no way a Premier League side would lose to a team in the second division. How wrong was I? Luton won 2-0, ending any hope I had of seeing the dream matchup.

I fought back tears that night. I've never felt as gutted over a football result since. And this is coming from someone who's had his fair share of gambling losses on footy games.

I have so many fond memories (and evidently bad ones!) from those years following Newcastle under Kevin Keegan. 

They truly lived up to their 'The Entertainers' moniker. 

That all ended in January 1997, when Keegan left Newcastle for a second time. His first, as a player, was inside a helicopter as it flew away from St. James' Park.

I stuck with Newcastle for years after that. I was still following them when Keegan made his return to the Newcastle dugout in January 2008. It was 4025 Days after the 1997 departure (I must have counted it for the blog post!)

In-between the Newcastle stints is something which kind of eased the pain from Luton/Newcastle memory. My friend and I went to see Cardiff City take on a Fulham team, managed by Keegan, in the League Cup in August of 1998. 

Wish fulfilled. I finally got to see Keegan manage a team against Cardiff City. As an added bonus, I also got to witness Peter Beardsley play live. Beardsley was my favourite Newcastle player during those Keegan years.

As an aside, Ninian Park is where Keegan scored his first goal for England. The 11th May 1974 game, in the British Home Championship, saw Wales lose 0-2 to their visitors. 

Keegan's third stint at Newcastle didn't go as well as expected. His run ended after eight months and resulted in him winning £2 Million in a constructive dismissal case against the club.

There was only one Kevin Keegan. There'll never be another 'Kevin Keegan, Kevin Keegan'.

* * *

Here are some Kevin Keegan posts I've written over the years.

The Big Fish (January 10 2008) - I had a brilliant idea for Newcastle to bring in Keegan to replace Sam Allardyce and for Alan Shearer to act as his understudy to eventually become long-term Newcastle boss.

What The People Want (January 14 2008) - More about the Keegan/Shearer dream ticket.

4025 Days Later (January 17 2008) - Keegan returns

D-Day For Kev (May 9 2008) - I wrote about Kevin Keegan and then-Newcastle owner - Mike Ashley- being  at odds 

He's Gone Again (September 5 2008) - Keegan leaves Newcastle for the third, and final, time

Keegan Versus Newcastle (October 3 2009) - I write about the legal matters between Keegan and Newcastle

Kevin Keegan (February 18 2011) - a review of the brilliant Keegan biography by Ian Ridley

Watching Cardiff .vs. Newcastle.... (August 18 2018) - I wrote a blog while watching Cardiff .vs. Newcastle on the telly. I reminisced about the Newcastle/Luton/Cardiff FA Cup scenario from 1994. In a coincidence realised this morning, as I write this post, I noticed that the Cardiff .vs. Newcastle game was played on the twentieth anniversary of me going to see Keegan's Fulham take on Cardiff in 1998!

The 5-0 Win (October 20 2021) - I wrote about the classic Newcastle win over Manchester United twenty-five years later.

Two Managers, One Story (January 8 2026) - Written following the passing of Terry Yorath and coverage of Kevin Keegan being diagnosed with cancer

Nostalgia Blast (January 13 2026) - I write about a classic Newcastle shirt and link it to the second departure of Keegan

Post-World Cup Blues!?

I woke up this morning with one thing on mind.

I'm going to miss the World Cup.

Never, in twenty tournaments, have I ever felt the Post-World Cup blues. 

It's quite surprising I had that emotion. It wasn't one of my favourite World Cups. 

What it must have been is I'm going to miss the routine I put myself through for the past month (and then some).

One day soon, I'll force myself to rank my favourite World Cups just to see where 2026 is on the list. It's certainly not at the top. On a positive, it's far from the bottom.

I was happy with last night's score of 1-0 to Spain. I suspected the eventual winners would keep it tight (that's their game!). I'm glad I didn't hedge my bets and wager on Lionel Messi to win the golden boot when I was offered 11/1 on Saturday night, once my Kylian Mbappe wager - from earlier this year - looked firm.

Spain not only had the best team at the World Cup.. it also had the best Walkers crisps flavour for this year's tourney.

Terence Donovan Passes Away

I vividly recall first coming across Terence Donovan on TV back in the 90s.

He played the villainous Al Simpson - father of Sophie (Rebekah Elmaloglou) - in Home and Away for a brief period. Then, a year or so later, newspapers began hyping up that 'Jason Donovan's dad has joined Neighbours' which was quite a big deal considering how Jason had become such a gigantic star stemming from his time on the Australian soap.

I didn't make any connection until I saw Doug Willis in Neighbours. It caused me to realise  'Ohhh, he's the guy who played Al Simpson in Home and Away!'

Donovan's Doug Willis character became a regular and was your typical Aussie. The funny and very random thing, for yours truly, about Doug's building business - Willis Construction - is, during this time, there was business local to me also named 'Willis Construction'. It would be hysterical to see the company's van drive around my area as I made my walk to school.

As an aside, I checked to see if Willis Construction is still in business. I'm happy to report it is!

I believe Terry Donovan left Neighbours somewhere close to the mid-nineties. Maybe a little earlier. He made a few brief returns over the years. His last appearances  - as part of a key storyline - saw Doug lose his battle with dementia. 

In a fun wrinkle to Doug's return, his character was involved in scenes with his son - Brad (then played by a different actor) and his wife - Terese. The trivia note is Terese was played by Rebekah Elmaloglou, so Donovan's Neighbours and Home and Away characters were both related to those played by Elmaloglou.

Over the past few years, previous work by Donovan has popped up on my screen. He was in a few episodes of Prisoner Cell Block H when I caught old Prisoner eps last year. I also found him in an Aussie heist movie - 1978's Money Movers - on Talking Pictures TV sometime within the past five years or so.

It was recently announced that Terence Donovan has passed away at the age of ninety.

What I'd Like To See, In England .vs. France...

The World Cup's third place playoff, between England and France, kicks off at 10pm BST this evening and I have one wish for it.

I'd like a few goals from France's Kylian Mbappe.

As I thought I had mentioned weeks ago (I cannot find the post!), I have Mbappe to win the golden boot. He's currently tied with Argentina's Lionel Messi, with eight goals each. However, Messi has four assists to MBappe's three. That tiebreaker means Messi will win the award should neither player score any more goals in their respective outings.

I also require Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane to have a quiet game tonight. Just like a few night ago. Both are hovering underneath Messi and Mbappe with six goals each. I shall respectfully consider them 'in the hunt' until their tournament participation ends this evening.

The Chase Around The World

I'm a fan of The Chase and one of its spinoffs - Beat The Chasers - so I had looked forward to watching the latest programme in the game show's universe: The Chase Around the World.

Episode one aired yesterday evening. I suppose the best reaction I could give is to share what I wrote in my journal before I turned in last night.

It went like this:

23:45 - Have just finished watching the new spinoff of The Chase called The Chase Around the World. It's a cross between The Chase and Race Across the World with six couples starting out and having to answer questions to uncover clues to get to the next round. 
£100,000 is the top prize.
I thought it was okay. I felt bad for the couple (father and daughter) who finished last. However, they were able to beat the chasers (Anne and Mark) at the end. That kept them in the competition

Now that I've had half-a-day to digest it all in, I stick by the notion that it's 'okay' and seems to be inspired by Race Across the World. I suppose it also has a dash of Beat the Chasers thrown in because the final bit, which sees the team which finished last in the race having to compete against two chasers in a battle to remain on the show, has the opposition up against more than one chaser.

I've seen more negative than positive reactions to it today, though. 

With that said, I have one of those 'this is the sort of thing ITV will quickly give up on' vibes from it. Kind of like how the company cancelled the brilliant The Fortune Hotel after two seasons. 

Don't get me started, once again, on the cancellation of Jeopardy UK - another thing ITV dropped after two runs.

So - yes, I will stick with The Chase Across the World. I am all-in knowing it could have a short shelf life.

More Years Of Hurt

Well, that didn't end well did it?

I'm obviously referring to England's 1-2 loss to Argentina, in the World Cup semi finals.

I'll be straight up, though. As soon as they beat Mexico, I envisioned England making it to the final. That feeling increased upon witnessing Spain's 2-0 victory over France on Tuesday night.

Good job my gut instinct was off-kilter. 

Of the losing party, I particularly feel for Thomas Tuchel this morning. I have always respected him as a coach (I suppose that's why my senses were working overtime picturing England in the final) and feel he's unfairly being treated as the scapegoat.

Tuchel's decision to play defensively - after England went 1-0 - would have been applauded had the game ended with that scoreline. 

Instead, England lost. The knives came out. As expected.

Damned if you do, and all that.

Shota Umino Exits G1 Climax 36 Due To Injury

Shota Umino is out of this year's G1 Climax.

New Japan Pro Wrestling broke the news today citing a concussion Umino suffered in his opening night match against Zack Sabre Jr. on Saturday.

It's a shame. Way back in January, I singled out Umino as my pick to win this year's tournament to determine who will be one of the participants of the WrestleKingdom main event of New Japan's first major show of 2027.

Umino was a participant of Block B in the round robin tourney. New Japan has stated that all of Umino's scheduled opponents will receive two points via forfeit wins.

Zack Sabre Jr. had beaten Umino in the night one clash from Chicago.