Declan Donnelly Kevin Keegan tributes leave St James' Park
Newcastle United will clear floral and other tributes to Kevin Keegan from St James' Park from Tuesday, a week after he died aged 75. Declan Donnelly Kevin Keegan grief spilled onto Ant and Dec's podcast, where the Newcastle fan cried for his childhood hero.
Key Takeaways
- Thousands of flowers, cards, shirts and scarves left at St James' Park after Keegan's death on 20 July will begin to be removed from Tuesday.
- Monday was the final day for fans to leave fresh tributes; non-perishable items will be stored while the club talks to supporter groups.
- Declan Donnelly wept on Hanging Out With Ant And Dec, calling Keegan his childhood hero and the reason he fell in love with football.
- Floral tributes may be recycled into soil conditioner for academy pitches; a giant flag from shirts and scarves has been suggested, with no firm plans yet.
- Keegan starred as a Newcastle player from 1982 and as manager from 1992 to 1997, becoming a defining figure for Geordie fans then and now.
For anyone searching declan donnelly kevin keegan after a week of mourning on Tyneside, the story now splits in two: memorials leaving the stadium gates, and private emotion still raw for fans who grew up idolising King Kev.
According to the BBC, tributes piled up outside St James' Park after Keegan died on 20 July at 75. Flowers, cards, shirts and scarves marked what he meant to the club, the city and the wider football community.
Newcastle United said Monday was the last chance to leave offerings, with bouquets due to start coming down on Tuesday. The club thanked everyone who visited and called the display a moving reminder of Keegan's place in local life.
That public farewell sits beside a more personal one. Presenter and Newcastle supporter Declan Donnelly broke down honouring his childhood hero — a then-and-now moment that belongs in any Nostalgia: Then & Now look at what Keegan meant on Tyneside.
Why are Kevin Keegan tributes being removed from St James' Park?
The club is clearing perishable memorials about a week after Keegan's death. Thousands of items had gathered outside the ground, and floral tributes were due to be disposed of from Tuesday.
Bouquets cannot stay indefinitely beside a busy city stadium. In a website statement, the club said decaying flowers could be "recycled into high-quality soil conditioner" for academy pitches.
Non-perishable keepsakes are different. Newcastle United said it was talking to supporter groups about preserving shirts, scarves and similar mementoes, and that all such items would be stored at the club during consultation.
One suggestion is weaving shirts and scarves into a giant flag in Keegan's honour. The BBC reported no firm plans yet. Fans who left tokens may still see them live on in some lasting form.
How did Declan Donnelly Kevin Keegan memories surface after his death?
On the podcast Hanging Out With Ant And Dec, Donnelly and Anthony McPartlin opened by acknowledging Keegan's significance across the North East. The Independent reported Donnelly in tears paying tribute to his "childhood hero".
Keegan had managed Newcastle and played for the club for two years. He died after a battle with stage four cancer, aged 75. For Donnelly, the news landed like a personal loss.
"Kevin Keegan was the reason that I really got into football, he was the David Beckham of his day. He was the Lionel Messi and the Cristiano Ronaldo of the 70s and 80s," Donnelly said.
He recalled Keegan signing in 1982, when his eldest brother had started taking him to matches. "Him signing for Newcastle was huge news, and that started my rollercoaster love affair with Newcastle United and football."
"He was my childhood hero. When we got the news through last week, I was absolutely devastated. I'm not ashamed to say I shed a tear."
Donnelly, from Newcastle upon Tyne, stressed Keegan's gift was hope as much as goals. "He just meant so much beyond football to the whole region. He was just such a special man."
He remembered meeting Keegan as a boy after winning a competition. "They say you should never meet heroes, but he was absolutely the exception." He said he shed a tear last week and another that morning.
McPartlin, calling him "King Kev", said Keegan saved the club when he returned as manager. "He's a true legend of the game, and to Newcastle United supporters, and he will be missed."
What did Kevin Keegan mean to Newcastle United then and now?
Although not from Newcastle, Keegan won lasting love through influential spells as player and manager in the 1980s and 1990s. The BBC noted both his grandfather and father were lifelong Newcastle supporters.
He first played at the start of the 1982-83 season, helping the club towards promotion to the First Division. That arrival is the moment Donnelly pins to his lifelong bond with the black and white.
Keegan returned as manager in 1992, almost eight years after his final game as a player, and resigned after five dazzling years in 1997. True Faith's retrospective later traced the Entertainers era — title near-misses, Alan Shearer's record signing, and the shock of that January 1997 exit — as a period when optimism defined the club.
The fanzine also covered his shorter 2008 return under Mike Ashley, ending in constructive dismissal findings. Its verdict was blunt: nobody has had such a positive impact, and his passion endeared him to supporters forever.
That is why shirts and scarves at St James' Park felt less like a temporary shrine than a city reclaiming its then-and-now story — the boyhood idol Donnelly described, and the manager Ant said had saved the club.
How will Newcastle United preserve the Keegan tributes?
Preservation, not disposal, is the stated aim for non-perishable items. While flowers move toward recycling as soil conditioner, shirts and scarves will be held in club storage while talks with supporter groups continue.
The giant-flag suggestion remains the most vivid public idea, though still unconfirmed. Until plans firm up, the storage pledge is the answer for fans who left a shirt or scarf.
The clear-up from Tuesday is not the end of the tribute week. It is a shift from a roadside memorial to whatever lasting form the club and supporters agree on — while voices like Declan Donnelly's keep the emotional archive alive.
Keegan's Newcastle story always moved between hope and heartbreak: promotion as a player, near-title glory as a manager, sudden exits, and a return that still divides memory. The flowers will go. The feelings Declan Donnelly voiced — and the thousands who filed past St James' Park — are what remain.