Mick Channon led tributes to Kevin Keegan after the former England and Liverpool legend died at the age of 75 following a battle with stage four cancer. Channon, a former professional footballer turned racehorse trainer, described Keegan as 'one of my best mates'.
Keegan's Racing Success
Keegan enjoyed success as a racehorse owner, with his finest horse Funfair Wane winning the Ayr Gold Cup twice after moving to David 'Dandy' Nicholls' yard. Channon trained Funfair Wane to win the Listed Washington Singer Stakes before the horse's famous victories.
Channon's Tribute
"It's very sad," Channon said. "He was one of my best mates and we've known for a little while this was coming. I think as you get older yourself things like this get tougher. We had a great time together – when we were fit, young and well and with Bally (Alan Ball) too, we had a wonderful time with some real characters."
Channon, who played alongside Keegan for England and Southampton, added: "Kevin came to Southampton a Ballon d'Or winner, but you wouldn't have known, he had time for everyone and never once acted like the star that he was. Life was fun and football was part of it. I was the one who was mad into the racing but Kevin and Bally loved it too, racing was great fun for them and we did a lot of it."
A People Person
"Kevin was just a smashing lad, a great human being. When you think of the profile he had, he never turned away any autograph or photo, he was a people person. We had some great fun all of us together, that's how I'll remember him."
Channon also recalled Keegan's family involvement: "Kevin and Jean (wife) even bred a few horses and that added to the fun and then he became England manager which got in the way a bit!"
Jockey's Memory
Jockey Adrian Nicholls, who rode Funfair Wane to his first Ayr Gold Cup win in 2002, remembered Keegan fondly. "Winning an Ayr Gold Cup for him was special. I was just a middle-of-the-road jockey and he was such a high-profile footballer – we had some great conversations, especially with me being a Sunderland fan," said Nicholls.
"He was such a cool guy to ride for, he never put you under any pressure. He could have got anybody to ride him but let me. To win one Ayr Gold Cup is hard enough but to win two was unbelievable. It's a very sad day as he was just a legend of a bloke."
Nicholls also credited Channon for the connection: "It was down to Mick Channon how Dandy got Funfair. Mick recommended Dandy after he started to lose his way a bit and as they say, the rest is history."
