Gerard Patrick Keenan (born 25 July 1954) is an English former footballer who played 240 league and cup games in the English Football League for Bury, Port Vale, and Rochdale from 1975 to 1984. He served Accrington Stanley as player-manager from 1984 to 1986, and later worked as player-manager at

Ashton United Ashton United Football Club is a football club in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, England. They are currently members of and play at Hurst Cross. History The club was founded in 1878 as Hurst Football Club and the earliest known match ...

Rossendale United Rossendale United Football Club was a semi-professional football club based in the village of Newchurch within the Rossendale borough of Lancashire, England. The club was founded in 1898. Nicknamed the Stags, they had a long and eventful run wh ...

and Bacup Borough.

Playing career

Bury

Keenan was a youth team player with

Bill Shankly William Shankly (2 September 1913 – 29 September 1981) was a Scottish football player and manager, who is best known for his time as manager of Liverpool. Shankly brought success to Liverpool, gaining promotion to the First Division and winnin ...

's Liverpool, but never played a first-team game at Anfield as his father refused

Roy Evans Roy Quentin Echlin Evans (born 4 October 1948) is an English former footballer who played as a defender for Liverpool. He eventually rose through the coaching ranks to become the team manager. While predominantly plyi ...

's offer of joining he club on apprentice terms. He instead became an apprentice gas fitter and played semi-professional

non-League football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

for Skelmersdale United, before joining Bobby Smith's Bury in April 1975. The "Shakers" finished 13th in the

Third Division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

in 1975–76, before finishing seventh in 1976–77 and then 15th in 1977–78 under Bob Stokoe's stewardship. In his three years at Gigg Lane, Keenan scored three goals in 71 league games. West Ham United made a bid for him, but backed out of the deal after he suffered a knee injury.

Port Vale

Keenan signed with Dennis Butler's Port Vale in September 1978 for a £15,000 fee. His first goal for the "Valiants" came in a 1–0 victory over Rochdale at

Spotland Spotland ( ) is a district of Rochdale in Greater Manchester, England. The Rochdale ward name is Spotland and Falinge. The population of this ward at the 2011 census was 10,805. It lies on the River Spodden, and is the home of Spotland St ...

on 11 November, and his second goal came on Boxing day in a 6–2 defeat to

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

Oakwell Oakwell is a multi-purpose sports development in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England used primarily by Barnsley Football Club for playing their home fixtures, and those of their reserves. While the name 'Oakwell' generally refers to the main s ...

. He ended the 1978–79 season with 32

Fourth Division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

appearances to his name. He played 44 league and cup games in the 1979–80 campaign, as Vale ended the season in 20th place under John McGrath's stewardship; he scored one goal against Torquay United at Plainmoor. He began suffering with knee injuries from September 1980, and was limited to 13 appearances in the 1980–81 season, claiming two goals in a 4–2 win over

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

at Vale Park on 20 September, and one goal in a 2–1 defeat at former club Bury seven days later. He played 24 games in the 1981–82 season, and scored one goal in a 2–1 win at Rochdale on 19 September. Due to his knee troubles he was given a free transfer in May 1982.

Rochdale

Keenan moved on to Rochdale on a week-to-week basis as he had received an insurance pay-off upon leaving Port Vale. He ended up staying with the club for two years.

Management career

Keenan became the player-manager at North West Counties League Division One side Accrington Stanley. After leaving this position he became player-assistant manager and then player-manager with

and had two spells as player-manager of

before moving on to Bacup Borough and St. Joseph's (also in

Rossendale Rossendale may refer to several places and organizations in Lancashire, England: Places *Rossendale Valley, a river valley *Borough of Rossendale, a local government district *Rossendale (UK Parliament constituency), a former parliamentary constitu ...

Later life

Keenan worked as a gas fitter after ending his playing career. He worked as a matchday ambassador at Vale Park from 2002 to 2011, but quit the club in a row over access to parking. He later returned to the club, before leaving for the final time in September 2019 after relocating to

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. It is in Morecambe Bay on the Irish Sea. Name The first use of the name was by John Whitaker in his ''History of Manchester'' (1771), w ...

Career statistics

Source: :A. The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the League Cup, Football League Trophy, English Football League play-offs and Full Members' Cup.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keenan, Gerry Footballers from Liverpool English men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks Liverpool F.C. players Skelmersdale United F.C. players Bury F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Accrington Stanley F.C. players Ashton United F.C. players Rossendale United F.C. players Bacup Borough F.C. players English Football League players Men's association football player-managers English football managers Accrington Stanley F.C. managers Association football coaches Port Vale F.C. non-playing staff 1954 births Living people