Alexander Edwin Michael Keeping (22 August 1902 – 28 March 1984) was an English

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

. He coached

Real Madrid CF Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally worn ...

from January 1948 to October 1950. His father was the Olympic medal winning cyclist

Frederick Keeping Frederick Keeping (11 August 1867 – 21 February 1950) was a British racing cyclist. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens. Keeping competed in the 333 metres and 12 hours races. In the 12 hours race, Keeping was one of only ...

Playing career

Southampton

Keeping was born in

Milford on Sea Milford on Sea, often hyphenated, is a large village or small town and a civil parish on the Hampshire coast. The parish had a population of 4,660 at the 2011 census and is centred about south of Lymington. Tourism and businesses for quite pr ...

where he was spotted playing for his home-town club, Milford on Sea F.C., and was signed by

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

, then still in the Southern League, in the summer of 1919 for a bargain fee of £25. Still only 16, Keeping was registered as an amateur but paid 10 shillings (50p) a week for travelling expenses. He signed as a professional in December 1920 but only made his first-team debut on 25 October 1924, in a Football League Division 2 match at

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Kingston upon Hull, Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving ...

as a replacement for the long-serving

Fred Titmuss Frederick Titmuss (15 February 1898 – 2 October 1966) was an English footballer who played as a full-back for Southampton, Plymouth Argyle and St Austell, and also made two appearances for England. Career He joined Southampton as soon a ...

who was injured. In his first season he made only seven league appearances. In the following season, he again started as an understudy to Titmuss but in October he took over at left-back and retained his position, with Titmuss leaving the club in February 1926. He soon blossomed into an outstanding left-back who "oozed class and being fleet of foot could turn on the run to sweep the ball straight up the touchline to the waiting winger". He was selected for an international trial in February 1926 and joined an F.A. party on a tour of Canada in the summer. He continued to display his skills in the Second Division and was an ever-present for the Saints in 1926–27 both in the league and in their run to the F.A. Cup semifinal at

Stamford Bridge Stamford Bridge may refer to: * Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, a village in England ** Battle of Stamford Bridge, 25 September 1066 * Stamford Bridge (bridge), a bridge in the village of Stamford Bridge * Stamford Bridge (stadium), in L ...

on 26 March 1927, which Southampton lost 1–2 to

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

. During this season manager

Arthur Chadwick Arthur Chadwick (July 1875 – 21 March 1936) was a professional footballer whose playing career as a centre-half included spells at Portsmouth and Southampton, before going on to be manager at Exeter City, Reading and Southampton. He also mad ...

soon settled on his favoured line-up with eleven players featuring in at least 35 of the 42 league games; Keeping lined up in defence with

Ted Hough Edward Hough (4 December 1899 – 3 September 1978) was an English footballer who spent most of his career with Southampton playing as a centre-half and later as a full-back. Playing career Southampton Hough was born in Walsall and was playi ...

behind the three centre-backs –

Bert Shelley Frederick Albert "Bert" Shelley (11 August 1899 – 29 December 1971) was an English footballer, who played as a half back for Southampton, for whom he made nearly 450 appearances, before becoming a coach at Southampton. His total of 448 appeara ...

George Harkus George Cecil Harkus MBE (25 September 1898 – 28 September 1950) was an English professional footballer who played as a half back for Southampton in the 1920s before serving with distinction in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. ...

and

Stan Woodhouse Stanley Woodhouse (10 February 1899 – 18 March 1977) was an English footballer who played initially as an inside forward and later as a half back with Bury and Southampton in the 1920s and 1930s. Playing career Woodhouse was born in Warringt ...

. He missed the start of the 1927–28 season due to illness, but was otherwise a regular starter throughout the next four seasons as Saints regularly finished in mid-table. He played for the "Professionals" in the

1929 FA Charity Shield The 1929 FA Charity Shield was the 16th FA Charity Shield, an annual football match. It was played between the Professionals and the Amateurs at The Den, New Cross in London on 7 October 1929. The Professionals won the match 3–0. Teams Matc ...

. He made a good start to the 1931–32 season and won his only representative honours when he played for the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

against the Irish League in September 1931. He was then struck down with

appendicitis Appendicitis is inflammation of the appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these typical symptoms. Severe complications of a rup ...

in January and was out for the rest of the season. In February 1933 Southampton needed to raise cash and they sold Keeping and

Johnny Arnold John Arnold (30 November 1907, Cowley, Oxford – 4 April 1984, Southampton, Hampshire) was an English cricketer and Football player. Cricket career John Arnold was an attacking opening batsman for Hampshire for 20 years from 1930, when he qu ...

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

for a combined fee of £5,000, with

Arthur Tilford Arthur Tilford (14 May 1903 – 1993) was an English professional footballer who played as a full-back for various clubs in the 1920s and 1930s. Football career Tilford was born in Ilkeston, Derbyshire and, after playing for a local village s ...

temporarily joining the Saints.

Jimmy McIntyre James Alfred McIntyre (31 October 1881 – 1954) was an English footballer who became manager at Southampton, Coventry City and Fulham. Playing career McIntyre was born in Wednesbury, Staffordshire. He was a journeyman player of some repute, ...

, the former Saints manager now in charge at Fulham boasted that this was "the best deal I ever brought off". In his playing career at The Dell, Keeping made a total of 281 appearances for the Saints, scoring twelve goals. In Holley and Chalk's "Alphabet of the Saints", Keeping is described as "a debonair man, contemporaries recall him as being equally stylish off the pitch and, much to the amusement of his team-mates, he would take hours over his appearance". In 1938 it was noted that he was the game's only air pilot and flew his own aeroplane. He also owned a couple of garages.

Fulham

Keeping joined Fulham in February 1933 and served them well until the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in 1939. He continued to turn out occasionally for Fulham until 1941 when he returned to Milford to join the family motor business.

Management career

From February 1948 to October 1950 he was coach at

with which he won the

Copa Eva Duarte The Copa Eva Duarte was a Spanish football tournament organized by the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and contested by the winners of La Liga and the Copa del Generalísimo. History In September 1940, a match with this format had the nam ...

, precursor of the

Spanish Supercup Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

, winning the final as cup winner of 1947 against the champions of 1947

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol (, ca-valencia, València Club de Futbol ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF (or simply Valencia) is a professional football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top flight of the Spa ...

in June 1948. In his first match his team shipped four goals in a 1–4 defeat to

Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta de Vigo or simply Celta, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues ...

, a feat only repeated in August 2018 when

Julen Lopetegui Julen Lopetegui Agote (; born 28 August 1966) is a Spanish former professional footballer, currently manager of Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers. A goalkeeper, he played 149 La Liga matches over nine seasons, representing Real Madrid ...

lost his first match 2–4 to

Atlético de Madrid Atlético, Spanish for ''athletics'', or Athletico in English, may refer to: Sports Teams Athletico * Athletico SC (Lebanon), a Lebanese football academy * Athletic Bilbao, or Atletico Bilbao, Basque students athletic club (also forming Athletic ...

in the

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions; the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was originall ...

final. Best league placings were the third and fourth ranks in 1949 and 1950. He was sacked in October 1950, after the eighth matchday for unsuitable remarks. Preceding there were also some hefty defeats in the league against

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, S.A.D., more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad (; ''Royal Society''), La Real in Spanish, Erreala in Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, founded on 7 Septem ...

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded ...

and

Deportivo la Coruña ''Deportivo'' (Spanish, 'sporting') may refer to: * Deportivo de La Coruña, commonly known as simply Deportivo, a Spanish football club * Déportivo, a French rock band * Deportivo (Mexicable), an aerial lift station in Ecatepec, Mexico * Deport ...

with results of 2–6, 2–7 and 0–5. After having had an administrative position with a Dutch side, in January 1959 he became successor of

Stan Rickaby Stanley Rickaby (12 March 1924 – 8 February 2014) was an English association football, footballer who played as a right-back. Career Rickaby was born in Stockton-on-Tees. He began his career with South Bank F.C., South Bank in 1940 and in Jul ...

at Southern League club Poole Town. Between September 1960 and January 1961, when he unexpectedly resigned for family reasons, he returned to England to get married, he was manager of the Dutch second division side

Heracles Almelo Heracles Almelo is a Dutch professional football club based in Almelo, founded in 1903. The club has won the Dutch national title twice, in 1927 and 1941. Heracles won the Eerste Divisie title during the 2004–05 season, gaining promotion to th ...

. He is also reported to have held positions in Denmark, France and North Africa.

References

External links

*
The Keeping Family in Milford
', Milford On Sea News, 13 December 2014 *
Alexander Edwin Michael Keeping
', saintsplayers.co.uk - The Southampton FC Player Archive * {{DEFAULTSORT:Keeping, Michael 1902 births 1984 deaths English footballers Association football fullbacks Southampton F.C. players Fulham F.C. players English football managers Real Madrid CF managers People from Milford on Sea Poole Town F.C. managers Heracles Almelo managers English Football League players English Football League representative players English expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Spain Expatriate football managers in the Netherlands English expatriate sportspeople in Spain English expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands