Kevin Damien Keelan MBE (born 5 January 1941 in Calcutta) is a former professional football goalkeeper. He spent the majority of his career with Norwich City, though he also played for Stockport County, Wrexham, New England Tea Men and Tampa Bay Rowdies.
Keelan signed for Norwich from Wrexham in July 1963 and would later be described by his manager at the time Ron Ashman as "The bargain of the century." In total, he played 673 competitive matches for Norwich. It remains the club record to this day and is a record that is unlikely to ever be beaten. His first match for the club was on 24 August 1963 in a 3-1 defeat at Cardiff City. His final appearance for the club was on 9 February 1980 in one of the most extraordinary matches that Carrow Road has ever seen, which ended in a 5-3 win for Liverpool.
Because he was with Norwich City from 1963 through to 1980, he was part of some of the major events in the history of the club - the 1971-72 season that saw Norwich promoted to English football's top division for the first time, the League Cup final of 1973 against Tottenham Hotspur which was the club's first appearance at Wembley Stadium, another League Cup final against Aston Villa in 1975, as well as relegation from division one in 1974 and promotion again in 1975. In the 1975 League Cup Final he became the first goalkeeper to save a penalty at Wembley when he saved Ray Graydon's spot kick. Unfortunately, Graydon followed up the save to score the only goal of the game. He was twice voted Norwich City player of the year by the supporters, in 1973 and 1974.
His performances earned him favourable reviews from many quarters, and he later said that one of his managers at Norwich - John Bond - rejected an approach from Manchester United for Keelan's services.
After leaving Norwich City, Keelan emigrated to the United States. He signed for the New England Tea Men of the North American Soccer League in 1978 and remained with them until 1980. While playing for the Tea Men, he garnered the nickname "Cat" Keelan. In 1981, he spent one season with the Tampa Bay Rowdies.[1] 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.
In 2002, Keelan was made an inaugural member of the Norwich City F.C. Hall of Fame.
Kevin spent time coaching on the Treasure Coast and contributed much to the success of the South Fork High School Soccer programs during their run of successful seasons in the 90's. Kevin brought a wealth of experience and training techniquest to the keepers including Doug Smith, Tommi Suoanttilla and others.
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Dave Stringer |
Norwich City Player of the
Season 1972/73 and 1973/74 |
Succeeded by Colin Suggett |
   | Career information at ex-canaries.co.uk - Flown From the Nest - Kevin Keelan |
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