Robbie Keane

Robbie Keane
Keane with the Republic of Ireland national team in 2013
Personal information
Full name Robert David Keane[1]
Date of birth (1980-07-08) 8 July 1980 (age 43)[2]
Place of birth Tallaght, Dublin, Ireland
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)[2]
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
1986–1990 Fettercairn YFC
1990–1996 Crumlin United
1996–1997 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1997–1999 Wolverhampton Wanderers 73 (24)
1999–2000 Coventry City 31 (12)
2000–2001 Inter Milan 6 (0)
2001Leeds United (loan) 18 (9)
2001–2002 Leeds United 28 (4)
2002–2008 Tottenham Hotspur 197 (80)
2008–2009 Liverpool 19 (5)
2009–2011 Tottenham Hotspur 41 (11)
2010Celtic (loan) 16 (12)
2011West Ham United (loan) 9 (2)
2011–2016 LA Galaxy 125 (83)
2012Aston Villa (loan) 6 (3)
2017–2018 ATK 9 (6)
Total 578 (251)
International career
1996 Republic of Ireland U16 3 (1)
1998 Republic of Ireland U18 4 (3)
1999 Republic of Ireland U20 4 (0)
1998–2016 Republic of Ireland 146 (68)
Managerial career
2018 ATK
2023–2024 Maccabi Tel Aviv
Medal record
Representing  Republic of Ireland
Men's football
UEFA European Under-19 Championship
Winner 1998 Cyprus
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Robert David Keane (born 8 July 1980) is an Irish professional football coach and former player who played as a striker. Keane served as captain of the Republic of Ireland from March 2006 until his international retirement in August 2016. Keane is the most capped player and is the top goalscorer in the team's history.

Keane began his career at Wolverhampton Wanderers, scoring twice on his first-team debut aged 17. The following season, he was the club's leading goalscorer and scored his first international goal for Ireland. He changed club frequently between 1999 and 2002, breaking transfer fee records, but his brief spells at Inter Milan and Leeds United were unexceptional. He joined Tottenham Hotspur in 2002 and played there for seven and a half years over two spells, amassing 306 appearances and 122 goals across all competitions. The 2007–08 season was the most fruitful of his career as he set a career record of 23 goals in a season, including a landmark 100th competitive goal, and won his first senior honour (the League Cup).

Keane moved to Liverpool in July 2008 but he spent only six months at the club before returning to Tottenham, where he was made first team captain. In January 2010, he moved on loan to Scottish Premier League side Celtic for the rest of the season, and spent the second half of the following season loaned to West Ham United. He left Tottenham for LA Galaxy in 2011, and in January 2012 went to Aston Villa on a two-month loan during the Major League Soccer (MLS) off-season. He departed LA Galaxy in 2016 having scored 104 goals across six seasons, before a short stint with Indian club ATK. Keane announced his retirement from professional football in November 2018. In total, he scored 126 Premier League goals for six different clubs, which ranks him as the 17th-most successful goalscorer in the history of the Premier League.

Widely regarded as one of the best Irish players of all time, Keane scored 68 goals for the Republic of Ireland national team over an 18-year international career, making him the all-time record Irish scorer. His 146 caps is also an Irish record. Keane is the joint fifth-highest European international goalscorer of all time, and the only player in the history of world football to have scored at least one international goal in 19 consecutive years.[3] Keane was the Republic of Ireland's top scorer at the 2002 FIFA World Cup with three goals as they reached the last 16, and also played at UEFA Euro 2012 and UEFA Euro 2016. Throughout his club and international career he was known for his goal celebration where he performed a cartwheel followed by a forward roll.[4]

After announcing his retirement from playing, Keane began his coaching career with the Ireland senior team as assistant manager under Mick McCarthy's management setup in November 2018. He also took on the role of assistant manager at Championship club Middlesbrough in 2019, with his former teammate Jonathan Woodgate as manager. He left both roles in 2020. He became the head coach of Maccabi Tel Aviv in June 2023, winning the Israeli Premier League and Toto Cup in his only season.

  1. ^ "Robbie Keane: Profile". worldfootball.net. HEIM:SPIEL. 14 June 2019. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Robbie Keane: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  3. ^ Leogue, Joe (22 May 2017). "Guinness World Records not keen on Robbie Keane's goalscoring exploits". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 31 December 2018.
  4. ^ "10. Robbie Keane". Archived from the original on 18 September 2013. Retrieved 9 October 2018.