Former England manager and two-time Ballon d’Or winner Keegan dies aged 75

What the report says

Al Jazeera, citing a family announcement, reported that Kevin Keegan, the former England, Liverpool and Newcastle striker and manager, has died at the age of 75. The report said Keegan had been diagnosed with stage four cancer last year and received treatment in January. His family said he was with his wife and daughters at the end, thanked his medical team, and asked for privacy.

Keegan was one of English football’s defining figures of the 1970s and 1980s. Al Jazeera reported that he won four English top-flight titles with Liverpool before moving to Hamburg in 1977, and that he was awarded the Ballon d’Or in both 1978 and 1979. He later played for Southampton and Newcastle United before moving into coaching.

His connection with Newcastle became central to his legacy. As manager, he took the club into the Premier League in 1993 and built an attacking side widely associated with the “entertainers” era, finishing second to Manchester United in 1996. Keegan also managed Fulham, England from 1999 to 2000, Manchester City, and later returned briefly to Newcastle in 2008.

Tributes cited by Al Jazeera came from clubs and football figures across England. Newcastle described him as central to the club’s modern identity, while Liverpool, Manchester City, Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur and the English Football League also praised his influence. Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher called him a major figure in the English game and in Liverpool’s history.