Roy Maurice Keane (born 10 August 1971) is an Irish football pundit, coach and former professional player. He 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. Regarded as one of the best midfielders of his generation, he was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players in 2004. Noted for his hardened and brash demeanour, he was ranked at No. 11 on The Times' list of the 50 "hardest" footballers in history in 2007. Keane was inducted into the Premier League Hall of Fame in 2021.
In his 18-year playing career, Keane played for Cobh Ramblers, Nottingham Forest, and Manchester United before ending his career at Celtic. He 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. Keane helped United achieve sustained success during his 12 years at the club. He then signed for Celtic, where he won a domestic double before he retired as a player in 2006.
Keane played at the international level for the Republic of Ireland over 14 years, most of which he spent as captain. At the 1994 FIFA World Cup, he played in every Republic of Ireland game. He was sent home from the 2002 FIFA World Cup after a dispute with national coach Mick McCarthy over the team's training facilities.
Keane began his management career at Sunderland shortly after his retirement as a player and took the club from 23rd position in the Football League Championship, in late August, to win the division title and gain promotion to the Premier League. He resigned in December 2008, and from April 2009 to January 2011, he was manager of Championship club Ipswich Town. In November 2013, he was appointed assistant manager of the Republic of Ireland national team by manager Martin O'Neill, a role he held until 2018. He would also have short assistant manager spells at Aston Villa in 2014 and Nottingham Forest in 2019. Keane has also 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. His father Maurice took work wherever he could find; this included jobs at a local knitwear company and at Murphy's Irish Stout brewery, among others. His family was keen on sport, especially football, and many of his relatives had played for junior Cork clubs such as Rockmount. Keane took up boxing at age nine and trained for several years, winning all of his four bouts in the novice league. During this period, he was developing as a much more promising footballer at Rockmount, and his potential was highlighted when he was voted "Player of the Year" in his first season. Many of his teammates were offered trials abroad with English football teams, but Keane was not. He 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.
Keane married Theresa Doyle in 1997, and they have five children named Shannon, Caragh, Aidan, Leah, and Alanna.
When Keane joined Manchester United, the family lived in a modern four-bedroom house in Bowdon, then moved to a mock Tudor mansion in Hale. His family then had a 1930s-built home bulldozed so they could build a new £2.5 million house near Hale.
On 6 June 2009, it was announced that Keane and his family would purchase a house in the Ipswich area, near to the training ground of Keane's new club, Ipswich Town. He eventually settled in the nearby market town of Woodbridge. They moved out of the property and offered it for sale in 2015.
In October 2014, Keane released the second part of his autobiography The Second Half, which was ghostwritten by Roddy Doyle. It is the follow up to his first autobiography, released in 2002, which was ghost written by Eamon Dunphy.
1989-1990 |
1990-1993 |
1991-2005 |
1993-2006 |
2006 |
2006-2008 Manager |
2009-2011 Manager |
2013-2018 Assistant Manager |
2014-2014 Assistant Manager |
2019-2019 Assistant Manager |