Robert David Keane (born 8 July 1980) is an Irish professional football coach and former player, who was most recently the head coach of NB I club Ferencváros. Widely considered one of Ireland's greatest ever footballers, Keane played as a striker, and was captain of the Republic of Ireland from March 2006 until his international retirement in August 2016. He is the most capped player and top goalscorer for Ireland.
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 clubs, which ranks him as the 17th-most successful goalscorer in the history of the Premier League.
Over an 18-year international career, Keane won 146 caps and scored 68 goals for the Republic of Ireland, both a national record. Keane is the joint seventh-highest European international goalscorer of all time. At the time of his retirement, he was the only player in football history to have scored at least one international goal in 19 consecutive years. 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.
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. He became the manager of Ferencváros in January 2025 and won the Hungarian title at the end of the season.
Early life Robert David Keane was born and raised in Tallaght, Dublin, the son of Anne and Robert Keane. He started his football career with local club Fettercairn before joining Dublin schoolboy team Crumlin United at the age of 10, where his talent was seen and recognised at an early age. He also played Gaelic football until he was 15, before giving it up to pursue a football career. Keane received offers from both Liverpool and Wolverhampton Wanderers, but decided to go to the First Division side, judging that it would be harder to break into the first team at Liverpool. He moved to Wolverhampton four days before his 16th birthday in July 1996, joining their youth team.
Club career
Wolverhampton Wanderers Keane progressed through Wolves' youth ranks and made his professional debut aged 17 on 9 August 1997, scoring twice against Norwich City. The following season he excelled at the club, earning praise from both the press and Wolves manager Colin Lee. He went on to be the club's leading scorer, with 16 goals in the 1998–99 season. Keane's performances and goalscoring record with both Wolves and his national team attracted much interest from larger clubs and a move for the young striker seemed imminent given Wolves' finances. However, with three years left on his contract, Wolves sought a high price for their Irish star and managing director John Richards stated his reluctance to sell Keane unless their asking price was met.
Coventry City Just weeks into the 1999–2000 season, he was sold to Premier League club Coventry City for £6 million, then a British record for a teenager. Keane got off to a great start, scoring two goals on his debut against Derby County. During a successful season at Coventry, he played a major role in a stylish attacking side boasting the likes of Gary McAllister, Mustapha Hadji and Youssef Chippo and formed a productive strike partnership with Cédric Roussel. Keane played in a total of 34 games, scoring 12 goals, all of which came in the Premier League.
Inter Milan After an impressive first season in the Premier League, Keane was signed by Italian Serie A club Inter Milan for a fee of £13 million in July 2000, signing a five-year contract. However, Keane's dream move to Italy soon soured when manager Marcello Lippi was sacked. Lippi's successor, Marco Tardelli, deemed Keane to be surplus to requirements and in December 2000, he was loaned out to Leeds United. Keane made 14 appearances for Inter in all competitions scoring three goals, his most memorable coming two minutes into the Supercoppa Italiana match against Lazio. He also scored against Ruch Chorzów in the UEFA Cup and Lecce in the Coppa Italia.
Leeds United His Leeds career got off to an impressive start, scoring nine goals in 14 starts for the club before the Leeds manager, David O'Leary, made his loan deal permanent in May 2001 at an original cost of £12 million. The following season was not so bright, and he found himself dropping down the pecking order. His form suffered and he managed only nine goals in 33 appearances, three of them in a 6–0 League Cup win at Leicester City on 9 October 2001.
Meanwhile, Leeds sunk deeper into debt and were forced to sell many players, with Keane joining the exodus when he was sold to Tottenham Hotspur just before the 2002–03 transfer deadline for a fee of £7 million.
Tottenham Hotspur
2002–2005
On signing him for Tottenham, manager Glenn Hoddle said that Keane was ideally suited to Tottenham and could make White Hart Lane his "spiritual home" for years to come. Keane had an impressive debut at Spurs, winning a penalty during a 3–2 win over West Ham United. Keane's first goal for Tottenham came in a 2–1 win against Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park. Although Spurs finished in a disappointing tenth place, Keane was their success story of the season, finishing as Tottenham's top scorer with 13 goals, including a spectacular hat-trick in a win over Everton at White Hart Lane.
In the 2003–04 season, Spurs battled with relegation, but Keane's goals played a major part in helping secure Tottenham's Premier League status. A hat-trick against Wolves, and a last-minute penalty to equalise in the North London derby against Arsenal, despite Arsenal winning the Premier League at Tottenham, were highlights as Keane once again ended the season as Tottenham's top scorer with 16 goals, 14 in the league.
His third season, 2004–05, was more frustrating. Despite finishing with his highest return of goals in a season for Spurs, 17, he played second-fiddle to the likes of Jermain Defoe, Frédéric Kanouté and Mido for much of the season. The frustration culminated in Keane storming from the dugout towards the end of a game against Birmingham City in April 2005 after all the substitutes had been used, meaning he would not get a chance to appear. He was fined £10,000 and forced to train with the reserves after the outburst and his future at the club was thrown into doubt.
The 2005–06 season started as the previous one had ended, with Defoe being preferred to partner Mido in Tottenham's strikeforce. However, Defoe's strike-rate continued to disappoint and Keane's persistence paid off in November when manager Martin Jol eventually gave Keane a chance to replace Defoe and stake his claim. By March, he had overtaken Mido as the top goalscorer at the club. Keane went on to finish the season with 16 league goals — making him the Premier League's joint fourth-highest goalscorer that season. He had also been made the vice-captain, taking the captaincy on occasions when Ledley King was not available. Keane was involved in a training ground fight with teammate Edgar Davids in December 2005, but the pair subsequently made up publicly and were seen encouraging each other on the pitch.
2006–2008 In February 2006, Inter's owner and president, Massimo Moratti, admitted his regret at letting Keane go after being impressed by his performances at Tottenham. Keane extended his commitment to Tottenham, signing a new four-year contract in March 2006. Keane was named as one of ten Spurs squad members to be struck down by norovirus on 6 May 2006. However, he still managed to play in their final game of the season against West Ham United.
Keane had a slow start to the 2006–07 season which was further set back by a knee ligament injury that Keane suffered against Middlesbrough on 5 December 2006. His coming back from injury marked the beginning of a return to form and a dynamic partnership with Dimitar Berbatov. Keane and Berbatov were jointly awarded the Premier League's Player of the Month Award for April 2007. Keane finished the season with a total of 22 goals in all competitions — the highest-ever season tally of his career — scoring 15 goals in his last 15 appearances of the season.
Keane made his 200th appearance for Tottenham in the final game of the 2006–07 season against Manchester City scoring the first goal in a 2–1 victory that saw Tottenham secure fifth place in the league.
He signed a new five-year contract with Tottenham on 28 May 2007. On 26 December 2007, he became the thirteenth player in the history of the league to score 100 Premier League goals. 2007 proved to be a remarkable year for the striker with a total of 31 goals and 13 assists from just 40 starts. His tally of 19 league goals in the calendar year was the highest of any player in the Premier League throughout 2007.
He scored his 100th competitive goal for Tottenham in the 2–0 win against Sunderland on 19 January 2008, becoming the fifteenth Tottenham player to achieve this feat. On 24 February 2008, he won his first senior honour as a player as his Tottenham side won the first League Cup Final to be played at the new Wembley Stadium, beating Chelsea 2–1 after extra time. On 12 April 2008, Keane made his 250th appearance for Spurs in the 1–1 draw with Middlesbrough. Keane finished the 2007–08 season equal top scorer for Spurs with Berbatov, with 23 goals in all competitions. His 15 Premier League goals making him the first Spurs player to score double figures in the Premier League in 6 consecutive seasons. Keane won Player of the Year three times during his Tottenham career (2003, 2005–06 and 2007–08); the first player to do so.
His consistency and strike-rate attracted the attention of Premier League rivals Liverpool. Despite initial resistance to the sale and accusations of misconduct, Tottenham agreed to a £20.3 million deal for the player.
Liverpool Liverpool publicly announced their interest in Keane on 1 July 2008. Amid accusations that Liverpool had unsettled the player, Tottenham Hotspur filed a complaint to the Premier League regarding the club's conduct.