The Boy Roy

30th Oct 2002

Roy Keane - Cork Legend

by Stevie G

It was the legendary Liverpool manager Bill Shankly who offered us the oft-repeated quote, "Football is not a matter of life and death, it's much more important than that". It might be safe to assume that tragic events that came years later might have caused Shanks to reassess this view, as his own club were involved in the horrific Heysel and Hillsborough disasters. Yes, it is only a football match but I'd hate to be a team-mate of Roy Keane offering this as an excuse for a bad performance. The competitive instincts of Keano have been well documented on many occasions but as the World Cup approaches it's time again to heap praise on a true Cork Legend.I remember well when he signed for Manchester United back in 1993.
††††††††
Like all Cork fans of United, I was immensely proud of Dennis Irwin the way he modestly developed into one of Alex Ferguson's most dependable players and even before Roy's arrival I was in my element. But Roy Keane was another story altogether. Dennis was an unassuming Cork man in the truest sense of the word but (as he openly admits) he would always go about his job quietly and efficiently. Which is no bad thing, but in Cork the time was right for another footballer to capture our imagination in the same way as sporting greats like Christy Ring, Jimmy Barry Murphy and (though she's from the same era) Sonia O'Sullivan.††
††††††
††
Our fascination with Roy was not always related to his skills. He was "the Boy-Roy" and he's often credited with saying he was "a Cork-man first, Irishman second". He had that Cork attitude that many of us love. Indeed, as United marched toward their first ever double in his first season it was often Roy's indiscipline that was talked about. It's strange that some of our notorious begrudgery was at play in those days and many used dismiss Roy as little more than an ankle breaker! Sure, he was no angel back then but at one stage there were many here just lining up to have a pop at him.†
†††
I don't know whether it was something to do with the "anyone but United" thing but Roy had his fair share of critics, even in his hometown. It's totally different these days of course and as he receives his honorary degree in UCC you'd be hard pushed to find a doubter of Roy's ability and achievements. Roy is mature now and like Dennis he's settled down with his young family. When he's back we're not gonna find him pissed up outside Burger land on a Saturday night. He's not joking when he claims that he only visit's the centre of Manchester to deposit his medals and trophies in a security vault. What a legend! Deep down though, most of us admired the Mayfield hard-man and even now we are relieved that his em, competitive instincts, have remained. Some of his sendings off through the years have been well deserved but it's doubtful that a Beckham or Owen would have got dismissed as many times for similar incidents.†

†††
Yes, Keano is a Cork and Irish legend so the evil English refs deal with him with venom. So we like to think anyway but lets face it, we enjoy this rebellious streak. We love to hear how he initially impressed Ferguson; with a crunching tackle on England and United hero Bryan Robson in the centre circle of Old Trafford after only a few seconds of a game for Notts Forest.†

We love the way he deprives referee David Elleray of satisfaction by starting walking to the tunnel straight away before he routinely sends him off. We loved the way he took a slight head butt from Patrick Viera standing and didn't fall to the ground as if he'd been shot. United fans love the way he had a go at Shearer and Alfie Halaand, two guys not too popular round Old Trafford. Admittedly, even I wouldn't defend the tackle on Halaand, the last time he totally lost control and saw "the red mist".
††
Still, I particularly enjoyed seeing a recent interview with United's in-house MUTV channel as he discussed the game with Spurs. Keano and Gus Poyet have been ripping the shit out of each other for years and Keano took the legs right off the Urugayian hardman and was later asked to comment on it. "Ah sure, I was going for the ball like and I slightly mistimed it but there was nothing in it really". After, a quick slow motion replay showing Poyet flying into the air that wry grin broke out and Keano was like a giddy schoolboy with a face that told a thousand stories. Priceless!
†
†It fills me with pride that one of our own is the captain of United (and Ireland). Whenever I go to Old Trafford this pride is accentuated. Years ago at a Juventus game I couldn't believe the amount of "There's only one Keano" tricolours. It was remarkable because Roy was not even playing, having done in his cruciate the previous Saturday. He's like a god over there. At the recent Bayern Munich game I was sat (as they say in Manchester) in a pub called The Bailey for much of the afternoon looking for a ticket. It's a strictly United only pub and they weren't letting the badly dressed Munich fans near the place. By about 4PM the place resembled the Catwalk on a Saturday night and it was absolutely jumping. There was a United sing-song in full swing and I know it might sound like hell to most of you but it was only when the captain's name was mentioned that things really took off.

I'll never forget the emotion as a pub full of about 700 reds sang the by now classic "Keano's fuckin magic, he wears the magic hat'