Hoops consider Keane testimonial

[JimmyP]

from football 365.com (http://www.football365.com/news/story_151998.shtml)

Celtic are considering a request to play Manchester United in a testimonial for Roy Keane on Wednesday, August 3.

Keane is on the verge of completing 12 seasons with the Old Trafford outfit, during which time he has won seven Premiership titles and four FA Cups.

The United skipper has not yet been granted a testimonial by the Old Trafford board, but such a move is merely a formality.

Though he famously missed out on the 1999 Champions League Final triumph over Bayern Munich through suspension, the 33-year-old has long since established himself as one of the Red Devils' all-time greats and the foremost midfield player of his generation.

Having apparently completed a U-turn over the idea of a testimonial, Celtic would be an automatic choice of opponent for Keane, who has never made any secret of his love for the Hoops, even though he grew up supporting Tottenham as a boy in Cork.

The only stumbling block would appear to be at the Celtic end.

Martin O'Neill's men have still to finish their Scottish Premier League campaign and should they be overhauled by Rangers in the final two games, the date pencilled in for Keane's benefit game would see them otherwise engaged in a Champions League second qualifying round tie.

[soylent green]

Will he do a Niall Quinn with the testamonial revenue?

[thecorner]

Will he do a Niall Quinn with the testamonial revenue?


dont u think he does anough work for charity as it is??

and if he does he will probably do it in private not like quinn looking for all the praise for it

[tricky_colour]

Will he do a Niall Quinn with the testamonial revenue?

I hope so, I mean he's he already worth £35 million or so, so he is not
going to be destitute in his old age.

Giving testemonial money to players on his wages is laughable.

[carnstien]

I hope so, I mean he's he already worth £35 million or so, so he is not
going to be destitute in his old age.

Giving testemonial money to players on his wages is laughable.
If anyone thinks for a second that Roy Keane will pocket that money they know absolutely nothing about the man.

[Cowboy]

If anyone thinks for a second that Roy Keane will pocket that money they know absolutely nothing about the man.

I would speculate that the reason he changed his mind about having a testimonial was the fact that he could do some good for charity. I doubt he will publicise this as others have.

[Donal81]

dont u think he does anough work for charity as it is??

and if he does he will probably do it in private not like quinn looking for all the praise for it

Give Quinn a break. He organises a testimonial, one of the first players (I can't think of any others before him) to give it all to charity and then goes and gets loads and loads of publicity for it and, as a result, for the causes associated with the testimonial. And you slag him off looking for all the praise for it? Bullsh*t begrudgery. Next time you earn thousands of pounds for childrens' charities, then you slag him off.

[Paulie]

and if he does he will probably do it in private not like quinn looking for all the praise for it


This is such an Irish attitude to have. Had it occurred that maybe he publicised the fact that his was for charity in order to encourage people to go to the game, people that otherwise may have said they were not going to go as they may have thought Quinn was keeping the money. How could he have justified selling non-attendance tickets here if he didn't publicise the fact that it was for charity. I'm not trying to take away from the charity work that Keane does but different people have different ways of going about things.

[Stuttgart88]

Well said Donal & Paulie.

[barglee]

Fair dues to Quinn not only did the publicity make the testimonial earn more money but it has also encouraged other players to follow suit and give testimonial money to charity.

We probably wouldnt be having this conversation about whether Keanes testimonial money will go to charity if it hadnt been Quinn setting a precident back in 2002.

From what we know of Keane he'll no doubt donate it as there is no player who does more than him for charity.....

[paul_oshea]

From what we know of Keane he'll no doubt donate it as there is no player who does more than him for charity....


can someone tell me bar getting paid flights over to charity days what does he do? i.e. money where mouth is?

he has done the special olympics, dogs for the blind, the kids thing what else?

i am a keane supporter, but if i was asked to fly somwhere on me day off i would be more than willing to do so if it were being paid for.

[Donal81]

can someone tell me bar getting paid flights over to charity days what does he do? i.e. money where mouth is?

he has done the special olympics, dogs for the blind, the kids thing what else?

i am a keane supporter, but if i was asked to fly somwhere on me day off i would be more than willing to do so if it were being paid for.

As far as I know, he's very involved in a number of charities and hospitals but prefers to do them without publicity, the dogs for the blind being an exception. That's just what I've read. I wouldn't question his integrity on it, to be honest. I can't imagine his testimonial being anything else but entirely for charity.

[NeilMcD]

Well I was speaking to a nurse one night in Galway. She worked in a hospital in Cork and she said that Roy Keane regularly comes into the hospital when he is at home and visits the children who are in there sick. He turns up unannounced just rings them maybe an hour ahead or whatever and leaves a cheque with the hospital . She said he is pretty nice about it but hates for any reporters to notified or anything like that.

[paul_oshea]

ya i had heard he had visited sick kids. if that is true it is very decent in fairness.

[soylent green]

He didn't go to Quinn's testamonial and that fact (for good or bad as he gave his reasons) got added into the mix in Saipan.

Gary Kelly did the same with his testamonial and Leeds played Drogheda again this year with money going to a Cancer society (Kelly lost his sister to Cancer)

[Stuttgart88]

He didn't go to Quinn's testamonial and that fact (for good or bad as he gave his reasons) got added into the mix in Saipan.

I'll never forget driving across Nth London the night of NQ's testimonial and it was announced on 5 Live that Keane hadn't turned up. From being in a great mood, looking forward to a great trip to Japan and thinking we were going to do really well, all of a sudden I realised it had started to go badly wrong. That was THE moment.

[OwlsFan]

Nothing wrong with testimonials even for someone on 100k a week. If the muppets want to spend their money attending them, good luck to them. I don't. They're a waste of time as football spectacles.

I went to the Irish vs Sunderland one though as (a) it was one of the send off games for Korea/Japan and (b) the money went to charity. Other than that I've passed on testimonials since players started earning fortunes.

[tricky_colour]

These days the player should pay for the tickets of everyone who attends
their testemonial, as a way of saying thank you for the fortune they have
earned from the fans. :)

[paul_oshea]

in a commie world that would be great. but its not so it willl never happen. though it is a very nice idea really.