‘I will love it. Love it’: 30 years on from Kevin Keegan’s infamous rant

The then Newcastle manager’s on-air blast at Alex Ferguson remains a classic Premier League moment

Kevin Keegan on Sky Sports in 1996. Screenshot via Sky Sports

Premier League history is littered with red letter days and Monday 29 April 1996 will for ever rank among the most memorable. Thirty years on, recollections of the aftermath of Newcastle’s 1-0 victory at Leeds remain vivid. Keith Gillespie’s goal saw Kevin Keegan’s team move three points behind the leaders, Manchester United, with two fixtures remaining.

Before Newcastle’s visit to Elland Road, Alex Ferguson craftily suggested that Leeds and Nottingham Forest – the team Keegan’s players would visit three days later – would not try as hard as they had against his own side. Ferguson also pointedly reminded everyone Newcastle had agreed to provide the opposition for Stuart Pearce’s testimonial by the Trent later in the year. This backdrop dictated that Keegan used a live post-match television interview with Richard Keys and Andy Gray of Sky Sports to claim the moral high ground while also walking straight into Ferguson’s psychological trap.