Kevin Damien Keelan

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(born 5 January 1941) is an English former professional

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 ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

. He spent the majority of his career with

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

, though he also played for Aston Villa,

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they were renamed Stockport Co ...

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

New England Tea Men The New England Tea Men were an American professional soccer team based in Greater Boston. They played in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1978 to 1980. Their home venues for outdoor play were Schaefer Stadium (shared with the NFL's ...

and

Tampa Bay Rowdies The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Championship in the second tie ...

. Keelan was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the 1980 Birthday Honours "for services to Norwich City Football Club."

Playing career

Keelan was born in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

where his father was serving in the Army. After beginning his career with Kidderminster Harriers, he had spells with Aston Villa,

, Kidderminster Harriers again and

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 Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

. In both 1978 and 1979, Norwich City sent Keelan on loan to the

of the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

for the summer season. He was named in the 1978 NASL All-Star Team.

Coaching career

While playing for the

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 Gordon Harold Jago (born 22 October 1932) is an English former football player and manager, and the former director of the Dr. Pepper Dallas Cup international youth tournament. Playing career Born in Poplar, London, Jago began his profession ...

resigned. In June 1991, the

University of Tampa The University of Tampa (UT) is a private university in Tampa, Florida. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. UT offers more than 200 programs of study, including 22 master's degrees and a broad variety of majors, ...

hired Keelan as the goalkeeper coach for the men's soccer team. In February 1997, he replaced

Peter Mellor Peter Mellor (born 20 November 1947) is an American former professional footballer whose playing career as a goalkeeper spanned three decades. He played 17 years in the top three tiers of English professional football with Burnley, Fulham, H ...

as the goalkeeper coach for the

Tampa Bay Mutiny Tampa Bay Mutiny was a professional soccer team based in Tampa, Florida. They were a charter member of Major League Soccer (MLS) and played from 1996 to 2001. They played their home games at Tampa Stadium and then at Raymond James Stadium. The ...

of Major League Soccer. 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.Florida Soccer Club

References

External links

Football League stats

Sources

*''Canary Citizens'' by Mark Davage, John Eastwood, Kevin Platt, published by Jarrold Publishing, (2001), {{DEFAULTSORT:Keelan, Kevin Living people 1941 births Footballers from Kolkata Association football goalkeepers Aston Villa F.C. players English footballers English expatriate footballers Expatriate soccer players in the United States Kidderminster Harriers F.C. players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players New England Tea Men players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) coaches Norwich City F.C. players Tampa Bay Rowdies (1975–1993) players Stockport County F.C. players Wrexham A.F.C. players Tampa Bay Rowdies coaches Player-coaches English expatriate sportspeople in the United States English football managers Members of the Order of the British Empire