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Personal

Fullname Roy Maurice Keane
aka: Roy Keane, Keano
Height 5.11
Weight 12.00
Born: 10 Aug 1971
Place of birth: Cork, Ireland
Position Midfielder
Internationals: Ireland
International Caps 65
International Goals 9

Summary

Born on the 10th August 1971, in Cork, Ireland

Roy Keane signed for Celtic in December 2005 after his contract with Manchester Utd was cancelled by mutual consent [BBC]
Keane scored 9 goals in 65 games for Ireland.

After a long standing hip injury, he announced his retirement from football in July 2007. [BBC]

Roy Keane has entered management, taking over from fellow Irishman Niall Quinn at Sunderland (27/08/06) [BBC]

Biog

Roy Keane left his old club Manchester United on ambivalent terms. He loved the club and their fans loved him even more for his uncompromising and martyr-like devotion to winning, but slagging your team mates off publicly in no uncertain terms ain't going to win you popularity contests amongst your colleagues, so he left/got pushed/chucked out/walked out (delete as you think appropriate).

With various clubs after him, few would have begrudged him moving to Real Madrid for a big fat retirement cheque, but he didn’t go there, he came to Celtic. Counter to popular belief, there is little evidence that he was some died-in-the-wool Celtic fan as a boy, but reports said he was a big Spurs fan. Nevertheless, during his career at Man U, he came to Celtic to watch us a number of times and fell in love with the club, and noted in his biography (written whilst he was still at Man U) that he wished to play for us before the end of his career.

Arguments in the Celtic Forums raged over to take him or not to Celtic, but the last word was always going to be Gordon Strachan’s and he brought Keane to Paradise!

His Celtic career started surprisingly in the more spartan surrounding of Clyde in the Scottish Cup, where we duly lost 2-1! You read that right. Embarrassing start but hardly at fault in anyway.

Anyhow, the rest of his short career was a vast improvement, with no repeats of that debacle, sadly though punctured by injury but gathering enough appearances to get a League winners medal. He played a role in the League Cup win v Dunfermline but had to come off injured which was his last appearance for the club. To his critics' dismay, he handled the Celtic v Rangers game very well (remaining unbeaten) starring in the 1-0 win at Ibrox and got involved in his normal physical manner, getting a yellow card for his troubles (which I’m sure he will treasure for the rest of his life!).

After much consideration, he admitted that he couldn’t carry on his career. Injuries were too much for his overworked body to be able to handle anymore, and he announced time up on his career having won over every Celtic fan for his dedication through his short time (except Billy McNeil for some reason!). He admitted to generally keeping to himself whilst at Celtic, preferring not to get close to the others but did admit he liked that there were no egos amongst his team-mates as like at Man U.

His final game was his testimonial at Old Trafford, which was an emotional occasion for him, even breaking a rare smile on the pitch He played the first 45mins with us and the second 45 with Man U in the 2-0 victory for the home side bringing down a curtain on a glorious and controversial career.

There was a lot of pride in seeing Roy Keane play for Celtic, and there were displays made specially for him (i.e Irish Tricolore card displays and the like).

Football will unlikely see many more gladiatorial figures than him in its history, and Celtic can be thankful to have been able to count him as one of its sons.

Playing Career

Club ____________	From	To ____________	Fee	League		Scottish/FA Cup		League cup		Other
Celtic	15/12/2005	12/06/2006	Free	10 (0)	1	1 (0)	0	1 (1)	0	0 (0)	0
Man Utd	22/07/1993	15/12/2005	£3,750,000	309 (17)	33	44 (2)	2	12 (2)	0	93 (1)	16
Nottm Forest	12/06/1990	22/07/1993	£10,000	114 (0)	22	18 (0)	3	17 (0)	6	5 (0)	2
Cobh Ramblers	01/08/1989	12/06/1990		No appearance data available
Totals			£3,760,000	433 (17)	56	63 (2)	5	30 (3)	6	98 (1)	18
			goals / game	0.12		0.07		0.18		0.18
				Apps _______	Goals _______	Apps _______	Goals _______	Apps _______	Goals _______	Apps _______	Goals _______

Honours with Celtic

Scottish Premier League

• 2005-06

Scottish League Cup

• 2005-06

Articles

• Roy Keane (Wit and Wisdom)
• Classic Rants

Pictures

• Photo Gallery
  

QUOTE

New Celtic signing Roy Keane has spoken for the first time about his move to Parkhead. Keane signed his deal on Thursday which will take him to 2007 and he is really looking forward to beginning his life as a Celtic player. "It is a great move fore me, I have taken my time but everything is now done - it is a good day," Keane explained, "I am looking forward to the challenge." He explained that he had talked with a number of interested parties since his depature from Manchester United last month and that included Spanish giants Real Madrid. "There has been a lot of speculation in the last few weeks and I have spoken to a lot of clubs," he confirmed. "I spoke to Madrid on Tuesday and they told me it may be another week away, but as I said I gave every club a chance and having spoken to the manager I felt this was the club for me and I gave the go ahead yesterday morning. "Walking around the club I feel comfortable and think this is where I belong." Keane insisted the pressure at Celtic would be just as intense as it was at Old Trafford. "They are both massive clubs and that is the challenge, there is pressure to win football matches - that is a pressure I enjoy," he opined. "I wanted a new challenge, different environment and staff. "I spoke to one or two Premiership managers, but as Is said I thought this was the best move for me. "I have been here a few times and I have always enjoyed watching them and they are seeking to improve and want to do well in Europe and I have come up here to win football matches and help the squad. "I feel I can help the club move on to the next level and win trophies, I am not in the game to be popular. "You always need a big squad and the players who are at Celtic have done well, I am under no illusions I will come here and walk into the team, I want to train hard and give the manager a problem." Keane admitted he wanted to quit English football. "I have proved myself in The Premiership and now was right for a new challenge," he said. "It would have been easy for me to stay in England, but this was a challenge I wanted. "I thought it was right I spoke to a few clubs and I thought it was a good idea, but it turned out I like most of them and could have played for any of them. "I spoke with Bryan Robson and he is a player I have great respect for but you can't please everybody - this decision was for me. "I have speaking to four or five clubs over the last few weeks and Michael was speaking to Madrid last week, but I said it was important I spoke to somebody and I talked with Mr Butragueno [Emilio, Real's sporting director] last week but they said they couldn't make a decision until next week - and I think I had to be fair to the other clubs and I wasn't prepared to wait another week. "Over the weekend I decided it had to be Monday or Tuesday and I don't doubt I have made the right decision." Keane quipped about his future relationship with his new team-mates. "I am sure they will love me," he joked, "I like to work hard and I would never ask a team-mate to do something I wouldn't. "I know the fans will judge me on what I do on the football pitch. I am all about the team and that comes first, the captaincy doesn't bother me one bit. "I hope the fans are happy, I know I am. I am not looking to unwind, I am here for a new challenge. "People think I am 94, but I am not I am 34. "I am hoping to surprise a few people, the role I had at United was important - sitting in front of the back four and I might get more licence to go forward up here. "I am here to win matches and trophies - there is no other reason to play." Keane feels Celtic will probably be his last club, adding: "I would have thought so, the contract is for the season and next and for football you cant get ahead of yourself." The Irish legend insists that a coaching role was not something he was looking at. "Coaching is further down the road for me," he said. "You have to be focussed on your playing at this level and that is a long way down the line for me hopefully." Keane did not speak too much about United but stressed that he and Sir Alex Ferguson parted on good terms. "I was very lucky and the manager was great," he revealed. "It was very amicable and we shook hands and wished each other well and I wish everyone at United well. "I had been convinced I would finish my career at United, up until last year - but things change in football."