ROY KEANE FACTFILE
Born August 10, 1971 in Mayfield, Cork, he made an early impression as a midfielder who punched above his bodyweight with local side Rockmount. Deemed to be too small for the professional game, an intensive training programme – allied to a semiprofessional contract with Cobh Ramblers – made people sit up and take notice.
Nottingham Forest manager Brian Clough recognised the value of his £10,000 signing in 1990 when Keane broke into the first team in his first season. Forest’s relegation in 1993 sparked a transfer battle for the club’s most prized asset and Kenny Dalglish appeared to have won when he secured a verbal agreement from Keane to join Blackburn. However, proving that Fergie Time extended beyond facilitating last-gasp winners, Manchester United intervened and snapped him up for £3.75million – a British transfer record at the time. He had already won two league and cup doubles prior to being named as United’s captain in the aftermath of Eric Cantona’s unexpected retirement in 1997. He would become the club’s most successful skipper, captaining them to four Premier Leagues, two FA Cups and the Champions League, albeit not lifting the trophy as he was suspended for the ’99 final against Bayern Munich. His performance in the semifinal against Juventus, when he inspired United to turn around a two-goal deficit, is widely regarded as his best. After winning his sixth league title in eight years, he won the PFA and football writers player of the year awards in 2000. In 2002, he was sent home from Ireland’s pre-World Cup camp in Saipan after a fierce row with manager Mick McCarthy. In the biggest spat in Irish sporting history, Keane claimed McCarthy had accused him of feigning injury. He returned in 2004 and was capped 67 times in total for his country. He left United in 2005 after a row with Alex Ferguson – the pair are still not on speaking terms – and ended his career with an underwhelming short-lived stint with Celtic. His most successful spell in management was with Sunderland, taking them to the Premier Division in 2007 – his rookie season in the dug-out – and keeping them in the top flight the following season. However, he has not held a management position since being sacked by Ipswich in 2011, but has served as a number two with Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest and the Republic of Ireland.