Rebelcounty Salutes another great Corkman!





Roy keane signed off from his testimonial in a man united shirt as the red devils beat the current club celtic 1-0 at Old Trafford today.


Fans from both side cheered the corkman as Cristano's Ronaldo's second half goal settled the match.

Sir Alex Ferguson has labelled him the best player he’s ever worked with, while aspiring footballers and United fans worship the ground he walks on.

Whatever your view on Roy Keane, there’s no doubt he is the epitome of the unwavering spirit and desire to succeed that Manchester United stands for.

Few sportsmen lead from the front in the way Keane does, both on and off the pitch.

Images of him rallying his team-mates whilst covering every blade of grass have been, and still are, frequent occurrences on the field. He is also not afraid to speak his mind in front of the media, particularly if he feels his colleagues are not reaching the high standards he expects.

The Cork-born midfielder began his career with Cobh Ramblers after failing to gain an apprenticeship in English football.

Brian Clough later took him to Nottingham Forest before he completed a then record £3.75million switch to Old Trafford in the summer of 1993.

Keane began his United career with two goals on his home debut in a 3-0 win over Sheffield United.

The combative midfielder went on to win the first of his seven Premiership medals in his debut season and has since added a European Cup, an Intercontinental Cup and four FA Cup winners’ medals to his collection.

He took over the United captaincy from Eric Cantona at the start of 97/98 campaign, but his season was cut short by a cruciate knee ligament injury sustained in a tackle with Leeds’ Alf-Inge Haaland at Elland Road in September 1997.

The 1998/99 season saw Keane experience a range of mixed fortunes. On his way to leading United to their historic Treble, a sending-off in the FA Cup semi-final replay victory over Arsenal was followed by a yellow card during arguably his greatest display in a Red shirt in the Champions League semi-final second leg against Juventus, forcing him to miss that unforgettable night in Barcelona when United were crowned European Champions.

Aside from his influential displays for United, Keane - a former winner of both the Footballer of the Year and the Players' Player of the Year awards in 2000 - has also proved an inspiration to his country and he now has over 50 caps for the Republic of Ireland.

A huge bust-up with former Republic boss Mick McCarthy which led to Keane’s premature departure from the 2002 World Cup looked to have put paid to his international career, but he made a shock return to action under Brian Kerr in May 2004. The reunion only lasted until the autumn of 2005, however. Following Ireland's failure to qualify for the 2006 World Cup finals, Keane announced his international retirement.

At the time of his announcement regarding Ireland, Keane was injured, having broken a metatarsal bone in his foot in United's Premiership match against Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday 18 September 2005.

He was still out of action on Friday 19 November when a shock announcement to top them all was made. Manchester United issued a statement through ManUtd.com to declare that Keane's Old Trafford career was over. The Reds had reached agreement with Keane to end his contract immediately, enabling him to find a playing contract with a new club.

The news stunned United fans and the football world at large. Keane said in the statement: "Whilst it is a sad day for me to leave such a great Club and Manager I believe that the time has now come for me to move on."

In the same statement, Sir Alex Ferguson described Keane as "the best midfield player in the world of his generation" and "one of the great figures in our Club’s illustrious history."