People in the Isle of Man will have the chance to hear first-hand from a true icon of British football in January.
The Isle of Man Sporting and Dining club are pleased to announce a black tie dinner event in honour of ‘one of the best known names in English football’ former England manager and TV pundit Kevin Keegan. The event, sponsored by HSBC, will see Kevin speaking of his love of football and the highs and lows of the game.
Kevin started his career as a teenager with Scunthorpe United but quickly moved to Bill Shankly's Liverpool before making his England debut. With Liverpool he went on to win three First Division titles, two UEFA Cups, and the FA Cup and European Cup.
After 323 appearances and 100 goals for Liverpool, Kevin left Merseyside to become Germany's highest paid player with Hamburg where he was named European Footballer of the Year twice in a row and won the Bundesliga title. Internationally, Kevin was appointed England captain, a role he held until after the team's ejection from the 1982 World Cup. He returned to England playing for Southampton and Newcastle United, helping the latter to promotion in his second season, before retiring from football.
After an eight year break pursuing media and business opportunities, Kevin returned to football as a manager. He returned to Newcastle where, after promotion, the team took second place in the Premier League. After a spell managing Fulham, Kevin took charge of the England team, a hugely popular public choice which ended after the 2002 World Cup qualifiers.
Kevin continued his managing career with Manchester City and finally back to Newcastle, eventually, retiring from management after some boardroom controversy. He continues to be involved in coaching football via academies and as a pundit for ITV and ESPN.
A charity raffle will yet again be held during the dinner in January, with all funds raised being donated to a local charity to be nominated by sponsors HSBC. At the previous dinner featuring motor racing legend Sir Stirling Moss, ?1,070 was raised in aid of Crossroads Care.
Kevin Cartledge, Senior Manager at HSBC in the Isle of Man, said:
“We are happy to retain our support of the Isle of Man Sporting and Dining club in hosting an event with such an iconic name in English football. I’m sure many people will be eager to hear from Kevin Keegan about his illustrious career. Of course, we also aim to continue the good work from previous years by raising a significant sum of money for local charities.”
John Wannenburgh of the IoM Sporting and Dining Club added:
“Kevin has an impressive list of sporting achievements to his name including being a European Cup winner with Liverpool, a former European Player of the Year, and one of the few players to have both captained and managed England. We are very fortunate to welcome Kevin to the Isle of Man and I’m sure he’ll have some fascinating tales to tell of a truly remarkable career.”
The event will take place on 31st January 2013 at the Best Western Palace Hotel and Casino in Douglas, with dinner tickets costing ?65 for members and ?80 for non-members (excluding VAT), available by contacting the Club on 07624 495749 or at john@sportinganddiningclub.com.
