Three-time Multimodal celebrity host and English Football Legend Kevin Keegan has passed away aged 75 after a battle with cancer.
As a player, Mr Keegan was a two-time Ballon d’Or winner, European Cup champion and three-time English league champion, with a playing career spanning Liverpool, Hamburg, Southampton, and Newcastle United. Eight years on from retiring as a player, he returned to Newcastle as the club’s manager, guiding them back to the top flight of English football and just falling short in one of the most memorable premier league title fights before taking over as England manager.
With his footballing success stretching across some of the world’s great port cities, it was fitting that he should take on presenting duties at one of the UK’s largest logistics events. Many in the supply chain and logistics industry got to know Mr Keegan, loving him for his down-to-earth, humorous and inspiring award ceremony presentations at the annual Multimodal supply chain event in Birmingham.
Multimodal event director Robert Jervis’ LinkedIn tribute to Mr Keegan said: “A true legend – and a Multimodal hat-trick hero. So sad.”
Those in the logistics industry who crossed paths with Mr Keegan at the event all followed in the comments with memories of the ex-footballer celebrity host. Director of Davies Turner Allan Williams wrote: “He always spent time with you in the bar afterwards, not just 2 mins but a proper conversation.”
Simon Moore, retired SVP of commercial strategy at DP World added: “I recall the first time we invited Mr Keegan to MM a great speaker and true gentleman his ability to tie together his own career and our own Ports and Shipping industry was spot on, having played for Liverpool, Hamburg, Southampton and Newcastle once he hit the big time.”
“At one MM Awards I mentioned to him that my granddaughter was playing for a local junior team. He asked for her name and took my details. A few days later a framed dedicated photo turned up. She was made up! RIP Kevin.” recalled Murray Gibson, director of Murray Gibson associates.
This author, an industry and Multimodal newby at the time, met Mr Keegan at the 2024 Multimodal awards. After happening to get into the same lift with him, I nervously asked if he’d guest star on our three-month old podcast, to which he more-than-happily obliged and told me to find him that evening. I appraoched his seat at the awards dinner between starter and main course with a microphone in hand, and you can listen to the extract of the interview with “King Kev” here:
As echoed by many in the industry who met him, he was always generous with his time and energy at Multimodal, and he will be hugely missed. RIP from all of us at Loadstar, our thoughts are with his freinds and family.
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