Robbie Keane – Tottenham’s Captain
Robbie Keane – Captain / Forward / Striker of Tottenham Hotspur F.C. – English Premier League Football Club
Robert David “Robbie” Keane (born 8 July 1980 in Tallaght, Dublin) is the current captain of the Republic of Ireland national football team, and a first-team striker for Tottenham Hotspur F.C. He is the all-time record goalscorer for the Irish national side, as well as the 10th highest goalscorer in Premier League history.
He began his professional career at Wolverhampton Wanderers, scoring twice in his first team debut aged 17. The following season he was the club’s leading goalscorer and scored his first international goal with Republic of 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 six years. The 2007–08 season was the most fruitful of his career as he set a career record of 23 goals in a season, scored a landmark 100th competitive goal for Tottenham and won his first senior honour, the Football League Cup. He moved to Liverpool in July 2008 but he spent only six months at the club and soon returned to Tottenham, where he was made first team captain.
Keane is best known for his performances at Tottenham, where he gained repute as a consistent goalscorer and often finished the season having scored the most goals on his team. Keane’s pedigree was reinforced when he became Ireland’s record goalscorer in 2004 and Steve Staunton appointed him national team captain in 2006.
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Robert David Keane | |
| Date of birth | 8 July 1980 (1980-07-08) (age 29) | |
| Place of birth | Dublin, Ireland | |
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | |
| Playing position | Striker | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Tottenham Hotspur | |
| Number | 10 | |
| Youth career | ||
| 1995–1997 | Crumlin United Wolverhampton Wanderers |
|
| Senior career1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1997–1999 1999–2000 2000–2001 2001 2001–2002 2002–2008 2008–2009 2009– |
Wolverhampton Wanderers Coventry City Internazionale ? Leeds United (loan) Leeds United Tottenham Hotspur Liverpool Tottenham Hotspur |
73 (24) 31 (12) 6 (0) 18 (9) 28 (4) 197 (80) 19 (5) 23 (10) |
| National team2 | ||
| 1998– | Republic of Ireland | 93 (40) |
Return to Tottenham
Keane rejoined Tottenham on 2 February 2009, signing for a basic fee of £12 million, potentially rising to £19 million with add-ons.[42] The deal meant that the cumulative transfer fees paid for Keane over his career amounted to around £75 million.[43] He signed a four-year contract with the north London club.[44] Keane was one of three players to make returns to Tottenham during the transfer window, along with Jermain Defoe and Pascal Chimbonda.[28] He was also made Tottenham vice-captain a week later,>[45] after often deputising for Ledley King during his first spell there.[46][47][48][49][50] Keane scored his first goal since his return to the club on 4 March,[51] opening the scoring in the crucial 4–0 home victory against Middlesbrough.[52][53] He followed this up by scoring another vital goal, this time a last-minute equaliser, away to Sunderland in a 1–1 draw on 7 March.[54][55]
Soon after Keane’s return to White Hart Lane, railway service Virgin Trains ran an advertisement with the slogan “A Liverpool to London return faster than Robbie Keane.”[56] On his return to Liverpool on the final day of the season, he scored in a 3–1 defeat.[57] He received a generally warm reception from the fans despite scoring against them.
On 31 July 2009, Robbie captained Tottenham to winning the Premier League Asia Trophy in a pre-season competition in China. He scored twice in the 3-0 win over Hull City inside Beijing National Stadium. On 26 September 2009, Keane scored four goals in a 5-0 win over Burnley.[58] During Tottenham’s Carling Cup Fourth Round match, Keane scored one of two goals against Everton on 27 October 2009 at White Hart Lane
Source: English Premier League Football Club, Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Robbie Keane, Captains information at wikipedia.org
For other Captains of English Premier League Clubs, visit Captains