Michael Keeping
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Alexander Edwin Michael Keeping | ||
| Date of birth | 22 August 1902 | ||
| Place of birth | Milford on Sea, England | ||
| Date of death | 28 March 1984 (aged 81) | ||
| Place of death | Milford on Sea, England | ||
| Playing position | Full-back | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Milford on Sea | |||
| 1919–1920 | Southampton | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1920–1933 | Southampton | 265 | (10) |
| 1933–1939 | Fulham | 205 | (7) |
| Total | 470 | (17) | |
| Teams managed | |||
| 1948–1950 | Real Madrid | ||
| H.B.S. (Netherlands) | |||
| Ermelo (Netherlands) | |||
| 1959–19?? | Poole Town | ||
| 1960–1961 | Heracles Almelo | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
|||
Alexander Edwin Michael Keeping (22 August 1902 – 28 March 1984) was an English footballer and manager. He coached Real Madrid C.F. from January 1948 to October 1950. His father was the Olympic medal winning cyclist Frederick Keeping.
Keeping was born in Milford on Sea where he was spotted playing for his home-town club, Milford on Sea F.C., and was signed by Southampton, then still in the Southern League, in the summer of 1919 for a bargain fee of £25. Still only 16, Keeping was registered as an amateur but paid 10 shillings (50p) a week for travelling expenses.
He signed as a professional in December 1920 but only made his first-team debut on 25 October 1924, in a Football League Division 2 match at Hull City as a replacement for the long-serving Fred Titmuss who was injured. In his first season he made only seven league appearances. In the following season, he again started as an understudy to Titmuss but in October he took over at left-back and retained his position, with Titmuss leaving the club in February 1926. He soon blossomed into an outstanding left-back who "oozed class and being fleet of foot could turn on the run to sweep the ball straight up the touchline to the waiting winger".
He was selected for an international trial in February 1926 and joined an F.A. party on a tour of Canada in the summer.
He continued to display his skills in the Second Division and was an ever-present for the Saints in 1926–27 both in the league and in their run to the F.A. Cup semi-final at Stamford Bridge on 26 March 1927, which Southampton lost 1–2 to Arsenal. During this season manager Arthur Chadwick soon settled on his favoured line-up with eleven players featuring in at least 35 of the 42 league games; Keeping lined up in defence with Ted Hough behind the three centre-backs – Bert Shelley, George Harkus and Stan Woodhouse.
...
Wikipedia