Kevin Keelan

Kevin Damien Keelan MBE (born 5 January 1941) is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He spent the majority of his career with Norwich City, though he also played for Aston Villa, Stockport County, Wrexham, New England Tea Men and Tampa Bay Rowdies.

Kevin Keelan
MBE
Personal information
Full name Kevin Damien Keelan
Date of birth (1941-01-05) 5 January 1941
Place of birth Calcutta, Bengal Province, British India
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Youth career
1956–1958 Kidderminster Harriers
1958–1960 Aston Villa
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1960–1961 Aston Villa 5 (0)
1961 Stockport County 3 (0)
1961–1962 Kidderminster Harriers
1962–1963 Wrexham 68 (0)
1963–1980 Norwich City 571 (0)
1978–1979 → New England Tea Men (loan) 54 (0)
1980 New England Tea Men 29 (0)
1980–1981 Jacksonville Tea Men (indoor) 13 (0)
1981 Tampa Bay Rowdies 18 (0)
Managerial career
1981–1982 Tampa Bay Rowdies (assistant)
1982 Tampa Bay Rowdies (interim)
1991– University of Tampa (assistant)
1997 Tampa Bay Mutiny (assistant)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Keelan was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1980 Birthday Honours "for services to Norwich City Football Club."[1]

Playing career

Keelan was born in British India where his father was serving in the Army.

After beginning his career with Kidderminster Harriers, he had spells with Aston Villa, Stockport County, Kidderminster Harriers again and Wrexham before signing for Norwich City in the summer of 1963. Between then and 1980 he would make 673 first-team appearances for City, a club record.

He was twice City Player of the Year and played for the City side which lost the 1973 League Cup Final to Tottenham Hotspur.

In both 1978 and 1979, Norwich City sent Keelan on loan to the New England Tea Men of the North American Soccer League for the summer season. He was named in the 1978 NASL All-Star Team.[2]

Coaching career

While playing for the Tampa Bay Rowdies in 1981, Keelan also served as an assistant manager, a position he retained in 1982. In July 1982, he also served as the interim manager when Gordon Jago resigned.[3] In June 1991, the University of Tampa hired Keelan as the goalkeeper coach for the men's soccer team.[4] In February 1997, he replaced Peter Mellor as the goalkeeper coach for the Tampa Bay Mutiny of Major League Soccer.[5]

In an interview for the Norwich City matchday programme on 30 April 2006, Keelan confirmed that he runs goalkeeping schools in Cape Coral and Tampa Florida and coaches "pretty much every night". He also stated that for 20 years he has worked for a company that manufactures contact lenses and distributes them all over the world, but plans to retire at the end of 2006 to concentrate on his coaching. He is also a staff coach with the Florida Soccer Club.[6]

References
  1. UK: "No. 48212". The London Gazette (Supplement). 13 June 1980. p. 15.
  2. Litterer, David; Holroyd, Steve (27 October 2003). "The Year in American Soccer – 1978". American Soccer History Archives. Archived from the original on 17 February 2015. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  3. "Rowdies' Coach Steps Down". Miami Herald. 9 July 1982.
  4. "UT names Keelan as assistant coach". The Tampa Tribune. 9 June 1991.
  5. "Mutiny gets start on season at camp". The St. Petersburg Times. 18 February 1997.
  6. Florida Soccer Club Archived 10 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine

Sources
  • Canary Citizens by Mark Davage, John Eastwood, Kevin Platt, published by Jarrold Publishing, (2001), ISBN 0-7117-2020-7
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