The Entertainers to a city reborn: Kevin Keegan’s Newcastle legacy is greater than football

I don't think any Newcastle fan realised that Kevin Keegan's message to supporters a few weeks ago would be the final goodbye that it turned out to be.

Like so many people of my generation, I was simply too young to remember King Kev as a player. Kevin Keegan was my first football manager. He was the man who made me fall in love with Newcastle United.

I was born in 1983 and grew up with a fantastic Geordie grandad who made sure my brother and I understood what it meant to be proud of the North East. Newcastle United wasn't just a football club. It was part of who our grandad is to this very day.

My first real football memory was watching Newcastle secure promotion to the newly formed Premier League by winning the old First Division title in the 1992-93 season. I was nine years old, sitting with my brother in front of what felt like a giant wooden television that needed a proper push on the buttons to switch between the four channels we had back then.

Neither of us fully understood what promotion meant. We just knew everyone around us was smiling. That same year I went on a school trip to Roker Park - the home of our rivals, Sunderland - enthusiastically dressed head to toe in Newcastle clothing. Ahh, the confidence and ignorance of youth.

But King Kev, as we called him, gave us that confidence. He didn't just rebuild a football club. He rebuilt belief. He took a team that had been fighting against relegation to becoming one of the most exciting sides Europe has ever seen. "The Entertainers" weren't just about flair. They were fearless. Peter Beardsley, Rob Lee, Darren Peacock, Steve Howey, Pavel Srníček, David Ginola, Les Ferdinand, Warren Barton, Philippe Albert, Keith Gillespie, Faustino Asprilla and, later, Alan Shearer all became heroes under a manager who simply believed football should be played with courage and ambition.

Like many young supporters, we subscribed to The Black & White magazine. Every edition dropped through the letterbox from the local newsagent, and we'd race to see the latest stories. The centre-page pull-out posters didn't stay in the magazine for long. My brother's bedroom and mine were covered with them. King Kev, Terry McDermott, Peacock, Beardsley, Robbie Elliott, Howey, Srníček looked down on us every night.

My first visit to St James' Park came on October 16, 1993 against Queens Park Rangers. Newcastle lost 2-1, with Les Ferdinand scoring for QPR. It was the last game before the Gallowgate End closed to be turned into an all-seater stand.

Looking back now, it's quite fitting that the man who broke my heart that afternoon would become one of the most loved players to ever wear the black and white shirt just two years later. I'm also not quite sure how I remember this when I now often can't remember what I entered a room for.

People say there is no atmosphere like St James' Park. They're right. I've been lucky enough to experience some wonderful sporting occasions since then, but nothing has ever quite matched the electricity of St James' during the Keegan years. I went to see a game during the Mike Ashley era and it was quite honestly like the heart had been ripped out of the atmosphere I knew and loved.

I wondered if I had romanticised it as football also felt different back then.

During the school holidays we'd head to Maiden Castle in Durham to watch Newcastle train. The sessions were open. The players would spend what felt like forever signing autograph books, posing for pictures on disposable cameras and chatting to supporters. Looking back, we probably didn't realise how lucky we were. Keegan created a community club.

For many outside the North East of England, Kevin Keegan will always be remembered for "I'd love it if we beat them" or for The Entertainers falling just short of the Premier League title.

For those of us who grew up there, his legacy is much bigger than football.

The North East was still carrying the scars of pit closures and heavy industry disappearing. Communities were rebuilding after years of hardship. Along came Kevin Keegan, who made people believe again.

For a few hours every week, people walked taller because of what was happening at St James' Park. He made Newcastle United relevant again. He made the city exciting again. He put Newcastle firmly back on the footballing map, and in doing so reminded a generation of Geordies just how much there was to be proud of.

We are Geordies, super Geordies, Keegan is our King.