Was Kevin Keeegan rejected by Doncaster Rovers for being too small?
It is one of football’s most famous stories
It is a tale etched in world football folklore - that Doncaster Rovers missed out on the talents of Kevin Keegan, reputedly rejecting him because he was too small.
Following the star’s death at the age of 75 this week following a cancer battle, the story has emerged once more in the many obituaries about the Armthorpe-born icon who enjoyed a glittering career with Liverpool. England and Newcastle United.
But it would appear there’s far more to the story than meets the eye.
While football folklore and local myth frequently claim he was turned down by his hometown club due to his height, the story is actually much more mundane.
According to Keegan’s own autobiography, his father Joe had arranged a trial for him at Doncaster Rovers - but his father had the wrong information regarding the schedule.
By the time Keegan arrived at the designated venue, the trial had already taken place earlier in the day at a completely different location.
He was never officially evaluated or rejected by the club’s staff and in an interview with the BBC in 1977 he noted there were "30 or 40 boys in Doncaster who were better than me" at the time.
The "too small" rejection myth likely persists because it became conflated with his actual trial at Coventry City.
Coventry manager Jimmy Hill did formally reject a teenage Keegan after an extended six-week trial explicitly because of his slight, small frame.
He later used this disappointment to fuel a relentless physical fitness regime that carried him to two Ballon d’Or awards.
Born on 14 February 1951 at 32 Elm Place, Armthorpe, the young Keegan made his arrival in the world at his Aunt Nellie’s home - considered a safer place for childbirth as it had electrcity.
The second of three children of Joe and Doris Keegan, his father, a Geordie had moved to Doncaster to work in the mines.
Keegan was given his first football by his uncle and his first pair of football boots by his father after he won betting on horses.
They were a second-hand pair of Winit boots bought from a sports shop run by former Doncaster Rovers centre forward Ray Harrison.
Keegan played football at Hyde Park using his baby brother Michael's pushchair as a goal post.
At the age of 15, Keegan started working at Pegler in Balby as an office clerk, though he said he was more of a tea boy and messenger than a clerk.
Whilst working at Pegler, he played Saturday afternoon football for his local youth club, Elmfield House, and Sunday morning football for the Lonsdale Hotel.
It was during this time that a colleague named Harry Holland invited him to play for the Peglers Works reserves.
His chance at professional football came when he was playing Sunday morning league football for the Lonsdale Hotel in a match against Woodfield Social in 1966.