Newcastle United captain Dan Burn has opened up about being invited to Kevin Keegan's house earlier this year, just a couple of months before the Magpies legend passed away in July.
The Magpies revealed their plans for a special tribute ahead of Sunday's game against Liverpool, with Keegan revered by both clubs for his achievements both as a player for the Reds and as a player and manager for the Magpies.
Burn was a child during Keegan's 'Entertainers' era in the nineties which almost culminated in his Newcastle side winning the Premier League title. So to be invited to his house to meet one of his 'heroes' was a real honour but also made the fact Keegan lost his battle with stomach cancer just a short time later even more of a shock.
Burn's tribute to Keegan
"[I was] very sad that that happened, very sad for his family and his wife Jean," Burn said ahead of Sunday's game against Liverpool. "I went down to see him at the end of May, he invited us down to go down and have lunch with him, so it was amazing to meet him. He was a great person."
"I think people say don't meet your heroes, but he was just such a great guy. He was wanting to know about me and my family, just full of stories and a great person to be around, so it was a shock when that happened in the summer."
"So, I know that it's going to be an amazing occasion for both the Newcastle and the Liverpool fans, and hopefully us as a club will, not celebrate that, but do it properly and hopefully give them something for the club to remember them by."
Murphy's tribute
Jacob Murphy is another boyhood Newcastle fan in the current squad and he paid his own tribute to Keegan ahead of this weekend's visit of Liverpool.
"His legacy will forever live on," Murphy, who laid a wreath at the St James' Park tributes for Keegan alongside former head coach Eddie Howe, Newcastle CEO David Hopkinson and other club delegates, told the official Newcastle United matchday programme.
"The whole time that I have been ere, he is constantly spoken about. It was a touching moment to be able to lay the wreath in the presence of fans who came to pay their respects, too."
"Somebody said that Kevin had this wonderful knack of bringing everybody together. That really hit home how, under unfortunate circumstances, he managed to bring everyone in black and white together once again. I thought that was so powerful."
"Unfortunately I never got to experience that first hand, but I have had wonderful anecdotes from staff that were here during his time. His playing career speaks for itself, and still everyone talks about the Entertainers. That is never going to go away."
