My MIGHTY MOUSE
Robert Haggis ROBERT HAGGIS is responsible for the international media output at HSV and hails from the birthplace of football. From his own, personal perspective he explains how an Englishman grows up with the ‘Mighty Mouse’ and the enthusiasm of his family for the birthday boy.
a full four decades after his departure from the city on the Hanseatic coast. HSV still has close ties to Keegan and in the HSV Museum the ‘Mighty Mouse’ still plays a starring role. And, whilst the interview that I and my family had hoped for didn’t materialise, I’m proud to work on this special edition of HSVlive to celebrate Keegan’s birthday and explain how 42 years after his departure, I followed in his footsteps, moving across the English Channel and onto mainland Europe in Hamburg. And how he has accompanied me along the way.
That leads nicely into one of the first reasons for the amount of respect that the two-time European Footballer of the Year still enjoys in his homeland. Almost half a century later and it’s still a novelty when an English footballer moves to a country that doesn’t speak his native tongue. “It was definitely a surprise when he moved from Liverpool to Hamburg,” my granddad Geoff remembers, who didn’t quite have the illustrious career of Keegan, but was able to make an appearance for his local club Maidenhead United in the 1950s in the first round proper of the oldest and possibly most famous cup competition in the world, the F.A. Cup. “Although it’s perhaps become more common in the last five years or so, for a long time British players didn’t move abroad, they just spent their whole careers in the U.K.,” my granddad explained. “After John Charles at Juventus in the ‘60s, Keegan was the second British player who was a superstar at home and moved abroad. He’s always had my respect that he learnt German! Without a doubt he paved the way for other British players who were successful abroad later, like Gary Lineker in Barcelona and Glenn Hoddle at Monaco.” It’s clear to see that my grandad is still a Keegan fan.
That more detailed memories of Keegan’s time at HSV aren’t forthcoming can be blamed on the era that the permed supremo played in. “It used to be a lot more difficult to get information and highlights of English football games if you weren’t at the stadium itself, let alone Bundesliga games,” my dad Neil explains, who, by the way, doesn’t quite have the footballing CV of my granddad. “I think I only saw Keegan once in a HSV kit, and that was when he played for the Rothosen in the European Cup final against Nottingham Forest in 1980,” as my granddad casts his mind back. “And even though I liked Forest and their manager Brian Clough, I was proud to see an English player playing for a non-British club in such a prestigious game. The fact that he didn’t just go abroad, but was incredibly successful personally and on a team level just shows his class.” To reiterate the point: my granddad is still a Keegan fan.
The pride perhaps also stems from the realisation that he succeeded in Hamburg with a very British style: “In those days it was a lot more difficult as a playmaker, you had to learn how to deal with hefty tackles and provocation from the opponents without a huge amount of protection from the referee,” my father clarifies. “Without a doubt he was a very skilful player, but the attributes most people would associate with him would be hard work and determination. In some ways he was aspirational; he didn’t have any God-given talent or the arrogance that other stars of the ‘70s had like George Best, he simply made the best out of his talent through passion and resourcefulness. People like those kind of stories and that’s why he really was loved by everyone.”
On top of that, the ‘Mighty Mouse’ was one of the first stars who recognised his own value as a brand and the increasing importance of the world of marketing. Whilst other footballers like George Best split opinion, the universal popularity of Keegan meant that a long line of firms were queueing up to use perhaps the most famous perm in the world at that time. Alongside boxing star Henry Cooper, Keegan also represented the perfume brand Brut in the 1980s, and who worked there other than my grandad. “This is the memory that sticks out most for me. As employees we had the chance to meet Cooper and Keegan. I mean, I got to shake Kevin Keegan’s hand! I have to say that it was a privilege. And when you were so close to him you could almost feel the star power.”
Grandad Geoff (m.) wasn’t just a player for Maidenhead United, but also a Keegan fan to this day, whilst also having the fortune of meeting his compatriot. Robert’s uncle Chris (l.) and dad Neil (r.) also share the enthusiasm for the sportsman and person Kevin Keegan.
In the next generation, including my uncle Chris and dad Neil, the now-70-year-old was more known for his antics on the sidelines than on the pitch itself. “He set his teams up as a manager exactly how he played football himself; full of energy and always wanting to play attractive, attacking football,” my uncle recalls. “For the neutrals that was certainly a bonus, but perhaps that was his weakness as a manager.” Ultimately, football is a results-based business as the cliché goes, but Keegan always wanted his teams to have fun and provide a spectacle. Sometimes he provided the latter himself when he was too honest yet again. Such as when manager of his boyhood club Newcastle United and producing a moment that you just know when you grow up with football in the U.K. In the middle of the battle for the Premiership title, Keegan had finally had enough of the psychological games from Sir Alex Ferguson, manager of title rivals Manchester United, and snapped live on TV: “I tell you what, I will love it if we beat them!” Yet Newcastle imploded and Ferguson was champion again. And after the similarly legendary defeat to Germany at the old Wembley just after the turn of the millennium, England manager Keegan gave one of the most honest post-match interviews ever. “He said that he just wasn’t good enough for the England job,” my uncle remembers. “For lots of people he was a hero because even in pressurised moments such as that he stayed human and always wore his heart on his sleeve.”
Having recounted all of these stories it’s not difficult to see how I was also aware of Keegan from a young age, even as someone who wasn’t old enough to appreciate either his playing or managerial career personally. Although he rarely makes a public appearance these days, he’s still very much present in the minds of English football fans. And a role model for me, on how to live my life on and off the pitch as an Englishman in Hamburg.
Thank you, Mr. Keegan!
