Former England forward Kevin Keegan diagnosed with cancer

Former England forward and manager Kevin Keegan has been diagnosed with cancer, his old club Newcastle United said on Wednesday.

“Kevin Keegan was recently admitted to the hospital for further evaluation of ongoing abdominal symptoms. These investigations revealed a cancer diagnosis, and Kevin will undergo treatment,” the Premier League side, where Keegan both played and managed, said in a statement.

Keegan, 74, enjoyed a stellar playing career with trophy-laden spells at Liverpool and Hamburg. As a manager, he narrowly missed out on the Premier League title with Newcastle before a challenging time in charge of England.

As a player, he won three First Division titles at Liverpool as well as a European Cup, two UEFA Cups and an FA Cup.

He then moved to Germany and won the Bundesliga with Hamburg and was twice crowned European Footballer of the Year, before returning to England with Southampton and then Newcastle.

Nicknamed “King Kev”, Keegan scored 204 goals in 592 league appearances during his club career. He earned 63 caps for England, netting 21 goals, and captained the national side on 31 occasions.

As a manager, he had two spells in charge at Newcastle and finished Premier League runners-up in 1995-96 to Manchester United having led the table for much of the campaign.

He succeeded Glenn Hoddle as England manager in 1999 but could not lead them beyond the group stage at Euro 2000 and left the job later that year after losing to Germany in the final game ever played at the old Wembley Stadium.