Over the years there have been many stories of near-miss transfers that would have changed the course of football, and this is a big one.
It is an anecdote that we have heard for years and years. One manager’s decision not to sign a player ends up altering the course of footballing history due to the sheer magnitude of what happened next. In this instance, as reported by the Bristol Post, the player in question is the legendary Kevin Keegan who could have been known at one point as a Bristol City player.
Tony Collins spent 13 years as Alan Dicks’ assistant manager at Bristol City, and in the soon to be released book about the Football League’s first black manager there are many stories told about his time at the club.
Collins was often known as ‘The Teacher’ throughout his career due to his influence behind the scenes and overall contributions to the game. One of the stories that is mentioned is the potential signing of Kevin Keegan way back in 1971 when he was playing for Scunthorpe United.
“I’ll never forget the night I first saw Kevin Keegan play football,” he said. “Boundary Park at Oldham was not the plushest of grounds in the Football League, nor the warmest, but by the end of 90 minutes seeing this slip of a lad named Keegan, who no-one had ever heard of, I felt as warm as if I’d supped half a dozen brandies.
“Keegan was playing for Fourth Division side Scunthorpe against Oldham; an anonymous player in an anonymous match. But when that final whistle blew, I knew I’d seen a great player in the making. I didn’t care that no-one shared my optimism that night, or so I thought.
“I walked out of Boundary Park that night in search of a telephone box. I called up Alan Dicks and said “I’ve just seen a brilliant kid; what do you think? He looks a real gem!” Alan and I were looking for five or six players at the time because City were bottom of the Second Division when we went there.”
After then preparing themselves to buy Keegan, the decision was made to hold off on the deal as they had only seen him play once. Unfortunately for the Robins, within a matter of days Keegan had agreed to move to Liverpool for £25,000. Who knows what the career trajectory of the forward would have been if things had worked out differently.
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