For more than 50 years, Margaret Sumner worked at a Wirral sports shop run by former Tranmere Rovers player-manager Noel Kelly, starting off behind the counter before eventually helping to run the shop. But among all the football boots, kits, and local club orders, one day has stayed with her more than any other.
Keegan's arrival causes pandemonium
It was the summer of 1971, and Liverpool FC had just signed an exciting young striker from Scunthorpe United named Kevin Keegan. Noel Kelly Sports Shop on Allport Lane in Bromborough had recently extended its premises and, through football boot manufacturer Stylo Matchmakers, managed to persuade the club's newest signing to officially open the shop.
Margaret, who was 33 at the time and is now aged 88, from Little Neston, told the ECHO: "The Stylo Matchmakers football rep used to come in and sell us boots, and one day we'd had an extension, and the rep said to us he would try and get Kevin Keegan to come and open the shop. To be fair to the rep, Kevin Keegan duly arrived. We expected a small crowd, but the whole of Allport Lane was absolutely packed."
Within minutes, hundreds of youngsters had descended on the shop, desperate for a glimpse of Liverpool's new star. Keegan arrived in a bright red Datsun sports car, only for children to swarm around it before he'd even made it inside. Margaret said: "They were in the car, on top of the car - they were swarming all over it. I even remember a police presence being there. I can't imagine footballers putting up with that nowadays."
Unusual crowd control measures
Inside the shop, the crowding became so intense that staff resorted to an unusual solution. Margaret said: "We got to the stage where we said to the kids, 'Right, you've got to buy something if you want to come in and see Kevin'. They were buying penny packets of caps for their cap guns just to get inside. It was quite funny."
Standing on the door trying to manage the crowds was former Vauxhall Motors FC general secretary Dave Edmunds. Margaret said: "He was a tall lad and we thought he'd be able to control it, but by the end of the day, he didn't have a button left on his blazer because the kids were all coming in and pushing past him, and we couldn't get them out of the shop."
Despite the chaos, Margaret said Keegan never complained. She said: "He was absolutely brilliant. He really was. He signed autographs for about two hours and was so down to earth."
Keegan's story about Shankly
It was after the crowds had finally dispersed that Margaret heard a story she has never forgotten. Sitting down for a well-earned cup of tea with Keegan, he recalled his first meeting with legendary Liverpool manager Bill Shankly. Margaret said: "He said he'd gone to Shankly's house with the Matchmaker rep, and when the door opened, Shankly had a handkerchief tucked into his collar and a rissole on the end of his fork. He said, 'Come on in, son, and have a cup of tea and a rissole'. We laughed for ages about it."
"Afterward, my boss gave them a V-neck Slazenger pullover for being such a good guy because footballers didn't get what they get now. Can you imagine a Liverpool player doing that now?"
The visit came during the era when Keegan famously wore the distinctive black-and-white Stylo Matchmaker football boots alongside England World Cup winner and Everton legend Alan Ball. Margaret said: "It wasn't long after that he went over to Patrick, one of the other makers, and had a contract with them."
Memories after Keegan's death
Following the announcement of Keegan's death on Monday (July 20), Margaret said the memories came flooding back. She said: "It's very sad. He was such a good footballer. I said to my husband that someone should know the story about Kevin coming to the shop and the story about Shanks. It just brought everything back."
