Roy Keane: 'I actually have a lot of contentment in my life'

Roy Keane stars  in a film to promote the new adidas Spezial leisurewear collection and opens up on the challenge he faced adapting to life after playing football. 

Roy Keane in the new adidas Spezial ad

Roy Keane and his dog star in a new film to promote the adidas Spezial leisurewear collection and Keane opens up on the challenge he faced adapting to life after playing football. 

"I played to win from when I was eight, nine years of age," Keane says. "You were literally on the biggest rollercoaster of your life. The highs were extremes and the lows... my goodness. But sometimes you have to lose to win. 

"The biggest challenge for any sportsperson is actually when your career finishes. You almost know you're never going to reach them highs again, but you have to accept that.

"I'll never get the buzz from anything else in my life from what happened on the football pitch.

"Being in a dressing room and winning stuff with good players and good teammates.. oh honestly, it really is amazing."

Keane says he has come to terms with the missing adrenaline rush and has largely found happiness in a life without winning matches at its centre. 

"Life's been pretty good to me in terms of my career and my family. I actually have a lot of contentment in my life.  That can go sometimes, but generally speaking... yeah I'm pretty contented."

Here’s Roy Keane in the new Adidas Originals advert 🔴⚪️⚫️ pic.twitter.com/9Z3Wtrb25i

— IRISH REDS 🔰 (@manutdirishreds) November 9, 2023

Adidas designer Gary Aspden told the website showstudio.com about working with Keane on the project. 

"He is uncompromising in what he does, which is a real quality - and one that requires true courage. I see adidas SPEZIAL as a range that has never pandered to trends.

"Like Roy, it has consistency and is unwavering in its approach. Roy naturally looks good and doesn't waste energy on trying to be seen as cool or some style leader. He is not someone you would expect to do a film like this, and that fact makes his presence all the more powerful.

"Roy has worn it [SPEZIAL] in past seasons, so there was also that existing synergy there. He prides himself on his scarcity - a very particular man on what he endorses - so we were over the moon when he agreed to work with us on this. There is a truth about him which I guess makes him ideal as an ambassador for adidas SPEZIAL."

It is not Keane's first foray into modelling this year, however. Earlier in the year, he fronted a campaign to promote Manchester United's third kit.