Gerard Patrick Keenan (born 25 July 1954) is an English former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played 240 league and cup games in the

English Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

for Bury,

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in , the third tier of the English football league system. Vale are named after the valley of ports on the Trent and Mersey Canal ...

, and

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

from 1975 to 1984. He served

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England, that compete in the , the fourth level of the English football league system. They have spent their entire history playing a ...

player-manager A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

from 1984 to 1986. He later worked as player-manager at

Ashton United Ashton United Football Club is a football club in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, England. They are currently members of and play at Hurst Cross. Having been founded as Hurst in 1892, they folded in 1892, before being reformed in 1909. ...

, Rossendale United and Bacup Borough.

Playing career

Bury

Keenan was a

youth team In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or Sports league, league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team (a ...

player with

Bill Shankly William Shankly (2 September 1913 – 29 September 1981) was a Scottish association football, football player and Manager (association football), manager who is best known for his time as manager of Liverpool F.C., Liverpool. Shankly brought su ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, but never played a first-team game at

Anfield Anfield is a Association football, football stadium in the area of Anfield (suburb), Anfield, Liverpool, England, which has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since its formation in 1892. The stadium has a seating capacity of 61,276, making it the ...

as his father refused

Roy Evans Roy Quentin Echlin Evans (born 4 October 1948) is an English former footballer who played as a defender for Liverpool, where he also had a spell as manager. Aside from his time at Liverpool, he had a short spell in the United States; and also ...

's offer of joining the club on apprentice terms. He instead became an apprentice gas fitter and played semi-professional

non-League football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

for

Skelmersdale United Skelmersdale United Football Club is a football club from Skelmersdale, Lancashire. They are currently members of the Liverpool County Premier League and play at The Community Ground, Burscough. The club is a member of both the Liverpool Count ...

, before joining Bobby Smith's Bury in April 1975. The "Shakers" finished 13th in the Third Division in 1975–76, before finishing seventh in 1976–77 and then 15th in 1977–78 under

Bob Stokoe Robert Stokoe (21 September 1930 – 1 February 2004) was an English footballer and manager who was able, almost uniquely, to transcend the traditional north-east animosity between the region's footballing rivals, Newcastle United and Sunderlan ...

's stewardship. In his three years at

Gigg Lane Gigg Lane is a football ground in Bury, Greater Manchester, England, built for Bury F.C. in 1885. The first match was played on 12 September 1885 between Bury and a team from Wigan. One of the world's oldest professional football stadiums, Gi ...

, Keenan scored three goals in 71 league games.

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

made a bid for him but backed out of the deal after he suffered a knee injury.

Port Vale

Keenan signed with

Dennis Butler Dennis Anthony Butler (born 24 June 1944) is an English former professional football player and manager. He played as a winger for Bolton Wanderers between 1959 and 1968 before ending his playing career following five years at Rochdale. Later ...

in September 1978 for a £15,000 fee. His first goal for the "Valiants" came in a 1–0 victory over

Spotland Spotland ( ) is a district of Rochdale in Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseysi ...

on 11 November, and his second goal came on Boxing day in a 6–2 defeat to

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

Oakwell Oakwell is a multi-purpose sports ground in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England used by Barnsley Football Club for home fixtures, and those of their reserves. As of 2023, the Barnsley F.C. Women's team also play at the stadium. While the na ...

. He ended the 1978–79 season with 32 Fourth Division appearances to his name. He played 44 league and cup games in the 1979–80 campaign, as Vale ended the season in 20th place under John McGrath's stewardship; he scored one goal against

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the National League South, the sixth level of the English football league system. They have played their ho ...

Plainmoor Plainmoor is an association football stadium located in the Plainmoor suburb of Torquay, Devon, England. Since 1921, the stadium has been the home of Torquay United F.C., Torquay United Football Club, who currently compete in the National Leagu ...

. He began suffering with knee injuries from September 1980, and was limited to 13 appearances in the 1980–81 season, claiming two goals in a 4–2 win over

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

Vale Park Vale Park is a football stadium in the area of Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, and it has been the home ground of Port Vale Football Club since its opening in 1950. It has a current capacity of 15,695, and was renovated durin ...

on 20 September, and one goal in a 2–1 defeat at former club Bury seven days later. He played 24 games in the 1981–82 season and scored one goal in a 2–1 win at Rochdale on 19 September. Due to his knee troubles, he was given a free transfer in May 1982.

Rochdale

Keenan moved on to

on a week-to-week basis as he had received an insurance pay-off upon leaving Port Vale. He ended up staying with the club for two years.

Management career

Keenan became the

North West Counties League The North West Counties Football League is a football league in the North West of England. Since 2019–20, the league has covered the Isle of Man, Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, Cumbria, northern Staffordshire, northern ...

Division One side

. After leaving this position he became player-assistant

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

and then player-manager with

and had two spells as player-manager of Rossendale United before moving on to Bacup Borough and St. Joseph's (also in

Rossendale Rossendale may refer to several places and organizations in Lancashire, England: Places *Rossendale Valley, a river valley *Borough of Rossendale, a local government district *Rossendale (UK Parliament constituency) Rossendale was a United King ...

Later life

Keenan worked as a gas fitter after ending his playing career. He worked as a matchday ambassador at

from 2002 to 2011 but quit the club in a row over access to parking. He later returned to the club, before leaving for the final time in September 2019 after relocating to

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, England, on Morecambe Bay, part of the Irish Sea. In 2011 the parish had a population of 34,768. Name The first use of the name was by John Whit ...

Career statistics

:A. The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the League Cup,

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...

English Football League play-offs The English Football League (EFL) play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by four association football teams finishing immediately below the automatic promotion places in the second, third and fourth tiers of the English football leag ...

and

Full Members' Cup The Full Members' Cup was an association football cup competition held in English football from 1985 to 1992. It was also known under its sponsored names of the Simod Cup from 1987 to 1989 and the Zenith Data Systems Cup from 1989 to 1992. Th ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keenan, Gerry Footballers from Liverpool English men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks Liverpool F.C. players Skelmersdale United F.C. players Bury F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Accrington Stanley F.C. players Ashton United F.C. players Rossendale United F.C. players Bacup Borough F.C. players English Football League players Men's association football player-managers English football managers Accrington Stanley F.C. managers English football coaches Port Vale F.C. non-playing staff 1954 births Living people 20th-century English sportsmen