102 Facts About Roy Keane

Roy Maurice Keane was born on 10 August 1971 and is an Irish football pundit, manager, and former professional player.

Roy Keane is the joint most successful Irish footballer of all time, having won 19 major trophies in his club career, 17 of which came during his time at English club Manchester United.

Roy Keane was inducted into the Premier League Hall of Fame in 2021.

Roy Keane was a dominating box-to-box midfielder noted for his aggressive and highly competitive style of play, an attitude that helped him excel as captain of Manchester United from 1997 until his departure in 2005.

Roy Keane helped United achieve sustained success during his 12 years at the club.

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Roy Keane then signed for Celtic, where he won a domestic double before he retired as a player in 2006.

Roy Keane played at the international level for the Republic of Ireland over 14 years, most of which he spent as captain.

Roy Keane was sent home from the 2002 FIFA World Cup after a dispute with national coach Mick McCarthy over the team's training facilities.

Roy Keane resigned in December 2008, and from April 2009 to January 2011, he was manager of Championship club Ipswich Town.

Roy Keane would have short assistant manager spells at Aston Villa in 2014 and Nottingham Forest in 2019.

Roy Keane has worked as a studio analyst for British channels ITV's and Sky Sports football coverage.

Roy Maurice Keane was born into a working class family in the Ballinderry Park area of Cork's Mayfield suburb on 10 August 1971.

Roy Keane's family was keen on sport, especially football, and many of his relatives had played for junior Cork clubs such as Rockmount.

Roy Keane took up boxing at age nine and trained for several years, winning all of his four bouts in the novice league.

Roy Keane supported Celtic and Tottenham Hotspur as a child, citing Liam Brady and Glenn Hoddle as his favourite players, but Manchester United player Bryan Robson later became the footballer he most admired.

Roy Keane initially found life in Nottingham difficult due to the long periods away from his family, and he would often ask the club for a few days' home leave to return to Cork.

Roy Keane expressed his gratitude at Clough's generosity when considering his requests, as it helped him get through his early days at the club.

Roy Keane eventually scored his first professional goal against Sheffield United, and by 1991 he was a regular starter in the side, displacing the England international Steve Hodge.

Roy Keane scored three goals during a run to the 1991 FA Cup Final, which Forest ultimately lost to Tottenham Hotspur.

Roy Keane was beginning to attract attention from the top clubs in the Premier League, and in 1992, Blackburn Rovers manager Kenny Dalglish spoke to Roy Keane about the possibility of a move to the Lancashire club at the end of the season.

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson, hearing about the move, phoned Roy Keane and asked whether he would like to join them instead of Blackburn.

Roy Keane had soon established himself as a first-choice selection, and by the end of the season, he had won his first trophy as a professional as United retained their Premier League title.

Roy Keane picked up a costly yellow card in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final against Borussia Dortmund, which ruled him out of the return leg at Old Trafford.

Roy Keane did not return to competitive football that campaign, and could only watch from the sidelines as United squandered an 11-point lead over Arsenal to miss out on the Premier League title.

Roy Keane returned to captain the side the following season, and guided them to a treble of the FA Premier League, FA Cup, and UEFA Champions League.

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Roy Keane received a yellow card after a trip on Zinedine Zidane that ruled him out of the final.

Later that year, Roy Keane scored the only goal in the final of the Intercontinental Cup, as United defeated Palmeiras in Tokyo.

Roy Keane was angered when club officials explained an increase in season ticket prices was a result of his improved contract and asked for an apology from the club.

Days after the contract was signed, Roy Keane celebrated by scoring the winning goal against Valencia in the Champions League, although United's defence of the Champions League was ended by Real Madrid in the quarter-finals, partly due to an unfortunate Roy Keane own goal in the second leg.

Roy Keane was voted PFA Players' Player of the Year and FWA Footballer of the Year at the end of the season after leading United to their sixth Premier League title in eight years.

Roy Keane caused controversy in November 2000, when he criticised sections of United supporters after the Champions League victory over Dynamo Kyiv at Old Trafford.

Roy Keane made headlines again in the 2001 Manchester derby, when five minutes from the final whistle, he was sent off for a knee-high foul on Alfie Haaland in what was seen by many as an act of revenge.

Roy Keane's admission that the tackle was a premeditated assault led the FA to charge him with bringing the game into disrepute.

Roy Keane played a friendly for Norway in between both matches.

Roy Keane used the break to undergo an operation on his hip, which had caused him to take painkillers for a year beforehand.

Some observers felt that the "new" Roy Keane had become less influential in midfield as a consequence of the change in his style of play, possibly brought about by decreased mobility after his hip operation.

Vieira later suggested that having walked out on his national team in the FIFA World Cup finals, Roy Keane was not in a good position to comment on such matters.

Roy Keane scored his 50th goal for Manchester United on 5 February 2005 in a league game against Birmingham City.

Roy Keane jointly holds the record for the most red cards received in English football, being dismissed a total of 13 times in his career.

Roy Keane was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2004 in recognition of his impact on the English game and became the only Irish player to be selected into the FIFA 100, a list of the greatest living footballers picked by Pele.

Roy Keane unexpectedly left Manchester United by mutual consent on 18 November 2005, during a protracted absence from the team due to an injury sustained in his last competitive game for the club, caused by a robust challenge from Luis Garcia against Liverpool.

Roy Keane's departure marked the climax of increasing tensions between Keane and the United management and players since the club's pre-season training camp in Portugal when he argued with Ferguson over the quality of the set-up at the resort.

Roy Keane's opinions were described by those present at the interview as "explosive even by his standards".

Roy Keane scored 33 league goals for Manchester United and a total of 51 in all competitions.

Two weeks later, after another row with Ferguson, Roy Keane reached an agreement with Manchester United allowing him to leave the club immediately to sign a long-term deal with another club.

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Roy Keane was offered a testimonial in recognition of his 12-and-a-half years at Old Trafford, with both Ferguson and United chief executive David Gill wishing him well for the future.

Roy Keane's testimonial took place at Old Trafford on 9 May 2006 between United and Celtic.

On 15 December 2005, Roy Keane was announced as a Celtic player, the team he had supported as a child.

Roy Keane retained his place the following Sunday in his first Old Firm derby against Rangers, leading Celtic to victory.

On 12 June 2006, Roy Keane announced his retirement from professional football on medical advice, only six months after joining Celtic.

Roy Keane was part of the squad that participated in the 1988 UEFA European Under-16 Football Championship although he did not play.

Roy Keane was man of the match for the Republic of Ireland national under-19 team when they beat hosts Hungary in the 1990 UEFA European Under-18 Football Championship to qualify for the 1991 FIFA World Youth Championship.

When called up for his first game at the international level, an under-21s match against Turkey in 1991, Roy Keane took an immediate dislike to the organisation and preparation surrounding the Irish team, later describing the set-up as "a bit of a joke".

Roy Keane would continue to hold this view throughout the remainder of his time spent with the national team, which led to numerous confrontations with the Irish management.

Roy Keane declared his unavailability to travel with the Irish squad to Algeria, but was surprised when manager Jack Charlton told him that he would never play for Ireland again if he refused to join up with his compatriots.

Tensions between the two men peaked during a pre-season tournament in the United States when Charlton berated Roy Keane for returning home late after a drinking session with Steve Staunton.

Roy Keane was angered by the late arrival of the squad's training equipment, which had disrupted the first training session on a pitch that he described as "like a car park".

The following day McCarthy approached Roy Keane and asked him to return to the training camp, and Roy Keane was eventually persuaded to stay.

Roy Keane immediately gave an interview to leading sports journalist Tom Humphries, of the Irish Times newspaper, where he expressed his unhappiness with the facilities in Saipan and listed the events and concerns which had led him to leave the team temporarily.

Roy Keane refused to relent, saying that he had told the newspaper what he considered to be the truth and that the Irish fans deserved to know what was going on inside the camp.

None of Roy Keane's teammates voiced support for him during the meeting, although some supported him in private afterwards.

The possibility of Roy Keane returning to the squad for future qualifiers was raised, as Roy Keane had not yet fully retired from international football, insisting that McCarthy's presence was the main incentive for staying away from the Irish squad.

Roy Keane has reiterated his displeasure with the attitude and selection policy of the FAI.

Roy Keane alleged that the FAI were incompetent in the running of their affairs.

Roy Keane was involved in further controversy in the wake of Ireland's defeat by France in the qualification 2010 World Cup play-off.

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Roy Keane's response included criticisms of the Irish team's defence and the FAI authorities.

However, it was Championship club Sunderland where Roy Keane chose to launch his managerial career, reuniting him with the club's chairman and outgoing manager, Niall Quinn.

Meanwhile, Roy Keane tackled his players' non-professional approach with a firm hand.

Roy Keane's achievements earned him the Championship Manager of the Year award.

Meanwhile, Roy Keane carried on his trend of buying ex-Manchester United players with the addition of Kieran Richardson, Paul McShane, Danny Higginbotham and Phil Bardsley.

Roy Keane has continued his strict disciplinary policy by putting Liam Miller on the transfer list for being regularly late for training and other team meetings.

In September 2008 Roy Keane became embroiled in a row with FIFA Vice-President Jack Warner over the withdrawal of Dwight Yorke from the Trinidad and Tobago national team.

Roy Keane responded by calling Warner "a clown" and insisted that Yorke was retired from international football.

On 23 April 2009, Roy Keane was appointed as the new manager of Ipswich Town on a two-year contract, the day after the club had dismissed Jim Magilton.

Roy Keane was dismissed as Ipswich manager on 7 January 2011.

Roy Keane remained as assistant manager of Ireland and asked not to be considered for the job.

Roy Keane later stated that he was on the verge of taking the Celtic job and had met with the Celtic owner Dermot Desmond but felt "they didn't make him feel wanted enough" and rejected the offer.

Roy Keane later became the new assistant manager of Aston Villa, combining his role with Villa and Ireland.

In October 2014, Roy Keane caused controversy after his book was released before crucial Euro 2016 qualifiers against Gibraltar and Germany.

Month later, before Ireland's crucial qualifier against Scotland, Roy Keane was involved in an incident with a fan in the team hotel.

Roy Keane refused to do so, and Gillespie confronted Roy Keane but then collapsed and an ambulance was called to the hotel.

Again Roy Keane was in the headlines after a heated press conference with journalists before the United States match.

Roy Keane got in a row with a journalist after he was questioned if he was becoming a distraction from the Republic of Ireland cause.

Eamon Dunphy has called on the FAI and Martin O'Neill to stop Roy Keane from giving interviews to end the circus of media attention around him.

On 1 July 2014, Roy Keane was confirmed as Aston Villa's new assistant manager, working alongside manager Paul Lambert.

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Roy Keane combined this role with his assistant manager's role with the Republic of Ireland.

On 28 November 2014 Roy Keane quit his role as assistant manager at Aston Villa to concentrate on his assistant manager role with Ireland.

Roy Keane appeared on ITV in the Champions League including Chelsea's victory in the final against Bayern Munich, nearly all FA Cup matches including the final between Chelsea and Liverpool at Wembley, and England competitive internationals and friendlies.

Roy Keane was involved in the ITV team for Euro 2012 alongside long-time rival Patrick Vieira and they appeared together as pundits in Ireland–Spain match and Czech Republic–Russia match, appearing with Roberto Martinez and Gordon Strachan.

Roy Keane joined Sky Sports to work on Super Sunday starting in September 2019.

Roy Keane married Theresa Doyle in 1997, and they have five children named Shannon, Caragh, Aidan, Leah, and Alanna.

When Roy Keane joined Manchester United, the family lived in a modern four-bedroom house in Bowdon, then moved to a mock Tudor mansion in Hale.

Roy Keane eventually settled in the nearby market town of Woodbridge.

In October 2014, Roy Keane released the second part of his autobiography The Second Half, which was ghostwritten by Roddy Doyle.

Roy Keane had a Labrador Retriever named Triggs, who died in 2012.

In 2006 when Roy Keane moved house to Sunderland, his reunion with Triggs, who joined him later, came to the notice of the press.

In 2007, Roy Keane was reported to have heard of his team's promotion to the Premiership while walking Triggs.

The following year, Roy Keane was said to have acquired a German Shepherd Dog named Izac to accompany Triggs.

Roy Keane's appeared in an Irish Guide Dogs advertisement in 2009, whereupon the Irish Examiner referred to her as "football's biggest canine celebrity", and received her own profile on Facebook.

Powerful, dominant, consistent, and highly competitive midfielder, in his prime, Roy Keane was known for his work-rate, mobility, energy, physicality, and hard-tackling style of play, which earned him a reputation as one of the best players in the world in his position.

Roy Keane's playing style earned him a degree of notoriety, due to his temper, tendency to pick up cards, confront opponents, and commit rash challenges.

An influential presence on the pitch, in addition to his playing ability, Roy Keane stood out for his leadership and determination throughout his career, as well as his strong character.