Twenty-five years ago this Tuesday, Kevin Keegan resigned as England manager after a brief conversation in a toilet cubicle at Wembley Stadium, following a 1-0 defeat by Germany. The match, England's last at the old Wembley, saw Dietmar Hamann's free-kick seal the visitors' victory, triggering Keegan's decision to walk away.
FA director David Davies, in his diary FA Confidential, recalled entering the sodden England dressing room to find David Beckham in tears and Tony Adams pleading for him to talk Keegan out of quitting. Keegan, slumped in a corner, muttered, "I'm off. I'm not for this." Davies sought a private spot for discussion, ruling out the tunnel, dressing room, and bath area before settling on the toilet cubicles.
"Dragging Kevin into a cubicle, I shut the door behind us," Davies wrote. "'You can't change my mind,' Kevin said. 'I'm out of here. I'm not up to it.'" Keegan later admitted he found the England job "soulless," spending time coaching blind, deaf, and women's teams to fill his days.
The resignation marked a low point for English football, but the landscape has shifted dramatically since. The old Wembley toilets and twin towers are gone, and a German, Thomas Tuchel, now manages the national team, which is among favourites for next year's World Cup. As the anniversary reminds us, fans should appreciate the current era.
