John Henry Keeley (born 27 July 1961) 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 as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

. He is currently a goalkeeping coach at

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in north-west Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'', and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settleme ...

Playing career

Born in Plaistow,

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, Keeley began his career at

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth level of English football. The team are known as "The Shrimpers", a reference ...

. He made 63 first team appearances between 1979 and 1986. He was signed by

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

in 1986 and made 138 league appearances in four years with the club, helping the club to promotion to the Second Division in 1988. He joined

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 EFL League Two, 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the Eng ...

in 1990, but made only two league appearances, being loaned out to

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club () is a professional association football, football club based in Oxford, England. The club compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football league system, English football. Founded as Headingto ...

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

and Chester City in 1991 and 1992. He joined

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its ea ...

in 1993, making 15 league appearances. On 16 October 1993, Colchester United became the first League club to have both keepers sent off in a game against Hereford United. John Keeley and Nathan Munson were both dismissed for professional fouls as the U's slumped to a 5–0 defeat. He subsequently joined

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in EFL League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton ...

, making 20 league appearances. He later played for

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Peterborough United formed in ...

before retiring from the professional game.

Coaching career

After retiring from playing, Keeley joined

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

as an academy coach in 2007. He worked in Portsmouth's academy for three years before becoming the goalkeeping coach for the first-team in 2010. He left his role at Portsmouth in 2013. Keeley worked as a goalkeeper coach at

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

, Brighton & Hove Albion and Chinese club

Guangzhou R&F Guangzhou City Football Club () was a Chinese professional football club which last competed in the Chinese Super League. The team was based in Guangzhou, Guangdong. The club's name between 2011 and 2020 was Guangzhou R&F, which was short for ' ...

before returning to Portsmouth in 2016, becoming part of

Paul Cook Paul Thomas Cook (born 20 July 1956) is an English musician, best known as the drummer and a founding member of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols. He is nicknamed "Cookie" by friends in the punk music scene. Early life and career Cook was ...

's coaching staff. After leaving Portsmouth at the end of the 2020–21 season, he was reunited with Paul Cook after joining the

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The club currently competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Ipswich Town were founded in 1878 but did not turn ...

coaching staff as goalkeeping coach. Keeley left the club in December 2021 following the sacking of Cook as manager. Ahead of the 2024–25 campaign, Keeley joined

as their goalkeeping coach.

Honours

Brighton & Hove Albion *

Football League Third Division The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 Football League, 1920–21 and again from 1958–59 Football League, 1958 until 1991–92 Football League, 1992. When the FA Premier League ...

runner-up: 1987–88 Stockport County *

Football League Division Two The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third tier ...

playoff runner-up: 1993–94 Individual *

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

Player of the Year: 1988–89

References

External links

*
Since 1888... The Searchable Premiership and Football League Player Database
(subscription required) {{DEFAULTSORT:Keeley, John 1961 births Living people Footballers from the London Borough of Newham People from Plaistow, Newham English men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Southend United F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Oxford United F.C. players Reading F.C. players Chester City F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players Chelmsford City F.C. players Worthing F.C. players English Football League players Premier League players Portsmouth F.C. non-playing staff Blackburn Rovers F.C. non-playing staff Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. non-playing staff Guangzhou City F.C. non-playing staff Ipswich Town F.C. non-playing staff Association football goalkeeping coaches