Paul Keegan anyone...
“The Irish lads at Leeds were so good to us. They would always be giving us money and stuff'
Midfielder Paul Keegan opens up about his playing days in England and returning home to help Waterford’s cause.
FOR A YOUNG lad from Dublin, Leeds United must have felt like the perfect place to receive your football education in the early 2000s.
David O’Leary, scorer of that iconic penalty at Italia ’90, was in charge, with Gary Kelly and Ian Harte both featuring regularly for his “babies†and Robbie Keane arriving from Inter Milan.
The Yorkshire club’s youth ranks also had a strong Irish contingent — promising teenager Stephen McPhail and Alan Maybury were just breaking into the first team, while Damien Lynch, Alan Cawley and Paul Keegan also called Leeds home.
Castleknock native Keegan had made the move across from Home Farm and soon found himself lining out for the reserves. Life couldn’t have been going much better.
“Leeds was a good fit for me at the time,†the midfielder tells The42. “There were loads of Irish players in the first team and the club was pushing for the youth through.
“They hooked up with Home Farm as well so it all worked out. Leeds were challenging for the Premier League and competing in the Champions League and they were such great times for us as kids.â€
“The Irish lads were so good to us,†he adds. “I used to clean Stephen McPhail’s boots. They made sure that everything was looked after and they would always be giving us money and stuff. It was so easy from that side of it.â€
Soccer - Friendly - Kettering Town v Leeds United Keegan lining out for Leeds in 2003. Source: Tony Marshall
A third-place finish in the Premier League earned Leeds qualification to the Champions League and they would go on to reach the semi-finals of Europe’s top club competition — losing out to Valencia in the last four.
As a ball boy at Elland Road, Keegan vividly remembers taking in many of those special nights from the sidelines.
“All these huge clubs like Real Madrid and Barcelona were coming to the ground,†he says. “Going to watch those games was the best education you could ever ask for.â€
However, having taken out huge loans to make several big-money signings, Leeds just missed out on Champions League qualification in the following two seasons and chairman Peter Risdale was forced to sell off their most prized assets. O’Leary got the sack in 2002 as the club plunged into an irreversible downward spiral.
Keegan witnessed its swift demise first-hand, and says the change in atmosphere around the club happened almost overnight.
“When I first went over, Leeds were really starting to build something and we signed Robbie Keane, Rio Ferdinand, Olivier Dacourt and Robbie Fowler. Everything was just getting bigger and bigger. Everyone seemed to be signing new deals and you kept hearing about people getting improved contracts.
But they’ve obviously taken a gamble on getting into Europe the following year and just missed out. All of a sudden, they’re like ‘Right, it’s a fire sale’ and everyone starts to leave.
“Things just went from bad to worse. Managers changed regularly as David O’Leary left, then there was Terry Venables, Peter Reid and Kevin Blackwell. It was a shame because you could see players departing and the club going from a Premier League team to a Championship one.â€
Soccer - UEFA Champions League - Semi Final First Leg - Leeds United v Valencia Leeds captain Rio Ferdinand and Valencia skipper Gaizka Mendieta before their Champions League semi-final first leg at Elland Road. Source: EMPICS Sport
Under caretaker Eddie Gray, Keegan was named in a couple of first-team squads but an injury and the arrival of Kevin Blackwell put an end to his prospects at Leeds.
“I think I was playing in the reserves in my first year, so I was 15-16 but then I was 20-21 and still playing there,†he says. “You need to push on.
“Eddie was in charge and he put me in the squad so I was on the bench against Birmingham and Arsenal. He was looking to push me on and bring a few lads through, but then I picked up an injury to my calf. I tried to work through it but couldn’t.
“Relegation was knocking on the door and he wanted to give a few of us a chance because he had been at the club a long time. I got injured though and then we went down.
“I had to have an operation on my calf, and then Kevin Blackwell came in. I hadn’t been around for a while because I wasn’t fit and the next thing he is like ‘Who are you?’. They didn’t want to know and I realised my time there was over.
Us young lads were associated with the good times at the club and they probably felt we were on high wages that maybe we weren’t deserving of.
“The whole club had changed, most of the staff and players were gone and it wasn’t the same. There weren’t the chances that I would have got under Eddie and I was looking forward to a new challenge.
“I was ready to go and carve out a career. You haven’t grown up when you’re a young lad like that and reserve team football is terrible. It doesn’t matter if you win or lose and there’s no pressure involved.â€
After five years at Leeds, Keegan found himself without a club. That summer, there was interest from Barnsley and Hull City but offers were dependent on them offloading players to make room and he was keen to secure a deal as soon as possible.
Shelbourne boss Pat Fenlon had been in touch while he was still under contract, but it was a phone call from Tony Cousins that led to a move back to Ireland.
“Andy Cousins had played at Leeds and I knew his brother Tony as he came over and watched us a bit,†he explains. “He rang me and said they’d like to get me down to Drogheda, meet Paul Doolin and see if I’d like it.
“I trained for a couple of days and then signed a two-year deal straight away. It was all very quick and I think I played that weekend.
“It was a good decision because Drogheda was a great club then and they were building at the time. I knew Damien Lynch from Leeds and then there was Stephen Bradley and Graham Gartland from Home Farm so I had met a lot of the lads.â€
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