Newcastle United have confirmed they are in communication with Liverpool to ensure Kevin Keegan’s memory is “marked fittingly” before their Premier League opener.
Former Newcastle manager Keegan died on Monday aged 75 after his family announced in January that he had been diagnosed with stage-four cancer.
Tributes have poured in for Keegan in the wake of his passing, and Newcastle confirmed their plans to honour his life throughout their pre-season schedule while providing an update on the steps being taken ahead of the Liverpool game on August 23.
Newcastle’s first team, the Under-21s and the women’s team will wear black armbands for all of their respective pre-season fixtures. A minute’s silence will be held before Saturday’s friendly with neighbours Gateshead, who will also wear black armbands, while Keegan’s image will be displayed on the big screen in the seventh minute of the game at Bristol City and home matches with Bayer Leverkusen and Strasbourg, and in the women’s team’s meeting with Inter Milan.
Regarding the Liverpool game, Newcastle said: “The opening Premier League match of the 2026-27 season sees Newcastle United hosting Liverpool – where Kevin made 323 appearances between 1971 and 1977.
“To ensure his memory is marked fittingly before the game, the club is in communication with Liverpool and will work closely with supporter groups, including its Fan Advisory Board, the Newcastle United Supporters Trust and Wor Flags, as well as the Premier League, to shape tributes.”
Keegan is a legendary figure in Newcastle’s history, having sensationally joined the club in 1982 when they were in the old Second Division and he was the PFA Players’ Player of the Year. The move essentially ended Keegan’s England career but he quickly became a hero on Tyneside, helping the Magpies to promotion in his second and final season as a player in the 1983-84 campaign.
He returned as manager eight years later, rescuing the club from relegation to the third tier for the first time before building one of the most celebrated sides in Premier League history following promotion. Keegan’s ‘Entertainers’ twice finished second in the Premier League, famously letting slip a 12-point lead at the top in 1995-96 as they were edged out by Manchester United.
Keegan later had managerial spells with Fulham, England and Manchester City, before a brief and ill-fated return to Newcastle in 2008.
Also a much-loved figure in Liverpool’s history, Keegan joined the Reds from Scunthorpe United in 1971, Keegan won three First Division titles, the FA Cup — scoring twice against Newcastle in the 1974 final — the European Cup and two UEFA Cups in a six-year spell at Anfield that saw him score 100 goals, forming a superb partnership with John Toshack.
He then moved to Hamburg, twice winning the Ballon d’Or in his time there as he lifted the Bundesliga title, before returning to England to join Southampton and then ending his playing career at Newcastle.
Keegan won 63 caps for England, scoring 21 goals, and captained his country. However, he featured in just two major tournaments, Euro 1980 and the 1982 World Cup, as his prime coincided with a period in which England missed out on qualification for two successive World Cup finals.
