The heartbeat of United: Alan Keegan

A last-minute winner, maybe, or a 30-yard screamer against Liverpool at the Stretford End. The entire stadium erupts, as 70,000 Reds go nuts.

 

The overwhelming majority of us, of course, do not become elite footballers. But for 23 years, one local United fan has had the pleasure of eliciting the ferocious Old Trafford roar. 

 

Marcus Rashford or Bruno Fernandes might have put the ball in the net, and this supporter uses his voice rather than his feet. But nevertheless, stadium announcer Alan Keegan can whip the Red Army into a frenzy by unfurling just a few words into the M16 microphone.

“There’s no better feeling than making an announcement when United have scored,” Alan tells us. “Particularly when we’re on top in a game. It’s a one-off moment and you’re part of it. You’re part of the celebration with the fans, almost working with them.

 

“You let them celebrate first. I never try and do the announcement over them. I let them enjoy it and then I’ll announce. In many ways, it’s like a second bite at the apple to celebrate. It’s an amazing feeling, and I’m still as excited about it today as when I announced Coley [Andy Cole] and Ronny Johnsen’s goals. It’s unbeatable.”

The goals Keegan alludes to came in August 2000, when his job kicked off with a 2-0 league win over Newcastle (though he had called Denis Irwin’s testimonial previously). He’d been working as an MC in the Salford Suite for a couple of years before that, but admits that replacing predecessor Keith Fane was his “dream job”.

 

“Obviously, it’s my club, and my wife and I have always had tickets in the Stretford End. To sit in the Stretford End – my seats are at the top of the ‘F’ in the word ‘Stretford’ – and then become the announcer, it was just incredible. Living the dream at my boyhood club. I was so proud and so delighted to get the job.”

Since that first shift, Alan has travelled all over the world with the Reds, to European finals in Moscow, Rome, London and Stockholm. On seven tours. There have been a countless flow of magic moments: Sir Alex Ferguson’s final home game, Wayne Rooney’s astonishing debut, calling “Ruuuuud” van Nistelrooy’s many Old Trafford goals – Keegan has soundtracked them all for thousands upon thousands of Reds.

 

When Cristiano Ronaldo returned with Real Madrid in 2013, he even collaborated with Ferguson on his match script. “Sir Alex had a word about two weeks before and we talked about the routine,” he remembers. 

 

“Normally, I do the away team first in a sort of low-key voice. Fergie said: ‘Let’s change it. Do United first. Do the Madrid XI and save Ronaldo until the end.’ He never actually said why, but he was playing the mind games, wasn’t he?! There was always the odd rumour Ronaldo might come back and emotions were running high. It was his first time back. When I said: ‘Welcome back, no.7, Cristiano Ronaldo...’ Old Trafford just erupted.”

Keegan readily acknowledges that the fan inside cannot always be kept at bay (“When Scholes scored against Barcelona I couldn’t control my emotions, I was just over the moon!”), he prides himself on professionalism.

“I tend to get there three hours before. For Wolves, I’ll watch one of their previous games, just to hear how the players’ names are announced and pronounced. If there’s anything else happening, like introducing Rasmus [Hojlund] the other Saturday, I’ll get a script that’s been put together by Andrew Ward [the club’s director of media relations and public affairs] just so that I’m saying the right thing! 

 

"When I first got the job, Ken Ramsden [former club secretary] interviewed me and said: ‘Just remember, Alan: you’re an information service.’ I have always remembered that. But it’s changed certainly over the 23 years. There’s a lot more to it now... obviously we’ve got the VAR, and there’s more involvement with partners and sponsors.

 

“Marie [Marron, who links the announcements and music] was fantastic when I first got the job. She guided me. We have a routine, where I say ‘Thanks Woody [her former surname being Woodward]’ so she knows I’m finished waffling on! Fans are always asking me: ‘Who’s Woody?’ We’ve got an amazing working relationship and she’s just a brilliant person.”

Keegan is such a familiar face (and voice) to supporters everywhere that he is routinely invited to host supporters’ dinners in Red hotbeds like Malta or Ireland, and he cherishes his “great relationship” with fellow United fans. Even though he is fast approaching a quarter of a century in front of the Old Trafford dugouts, his sense of privilege remains acute.

 

“I’ve got to be honest with you, I never thought it’d get to 23 years,” he smiles.

“With a job like that, you think, ‘well, if I get two or three years, I’ll die a happy man’. Because it was just the best job in the world – and it still is.”