HE HAS SINCE gone on to achieve much bigger and better things, but Harry Kane has never been reluctant to acknowledge the importance of his loan spell at Millwall.
Harry Kane receiving the 2018 World Cup Golden Boot from England manager Gareth Southgate. Mike Egerton
Mike Egerton
“I had a great time at Millwall. It was a big part of my development. I was 18 at the time, playing in the Championship,” the Tottenham Hotspur star told the Evening Standard before the two clubs met in the FA Cup quarter-finals in March 2017.
“We were in a relegation battle and it probably turned me into a man, really. I was playing in difficult, high-pressure games and I managed to come out of it positively.”
Champions League football, the England captaincy and World Cup Golden Boot awards were merely pipe dreams back then for the Londoner, whose form for club and country in recent years has seen him come to be regarded as one of the game’s top strikers.
When he arrived at Millwall at the turn of the new year in 2012, Kane’s only first-team experience as a Tottenham player had come in the Europa League. A couple of weeks after playing against Shamrock Rovers in Tallaght, he moved to The Den until the end of the season in a bid to help a side hovering above the relegation zone.
Millwall won just once in Kane’s first eight outings for the club in the Championship. His own barren spell finally ended in late February, when a first league goal arrived at the ninth attempt. It also happened to mark the first game in which the youngster was partnered up front by Millwall’s Irish striker, Andy Keogh.
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Andy Keogh (right) playing for Millwall against Coventry City during the 2011-12 season. Mike Egerton
Mike Egerton
The duo each scored in a 3-1 win away to Burnley. Recognising their potential as a partnership, Kenny Jackett put his faith in Kane and Keogh for the run-in and they didn’t leave the Millwall boss down.
After they both netted in a 2-1 win over Leicester City that ensured Millwall’s survival, Jackett said: “We’ve had some form off the back of Andy Keogh and Harry Kane’s partnership. It has been a good partnership for us and has given us a threat all of the time, which at different stages of the season we haven’t had. That partnership has given us something to work off.”
In the club’s remaining 14 games of the Championship campaign, the pair managed 16 goals between them — nine for Keogh, seven for Kane. The south-east London outfit, who went unbeaten for their final seven fixtures, comfortably avoided the drop to League One in the end.
“Andy Keogh was the unsung hero of Kane’s stay at Millwall,” wrote South London Press reporter Toby Porter back in June while Harry Kane was leading England to the World Cup semi-finals in Russia.
“He [Keogh] was always looking for the teenager, teeing up for him and playing off him. The duo seemed to always know where the other one was. Finishing is crucial, but it has little value without good positioning.”
Harry Kane celebrates after scoring for Millwall. EMPICS Sport
EMPICS Sport
In spite of Millwall’s attempts to keep him, Kane returned to Tottenham for the 2012/13 season. He was handed his Premier League debut before the club sought to continue his development with loan spells at Norwich City and Leicester City.
Keogh, who scored his second goal for Ireland in a 6-1 defeat to Germany that October, remained a Millwall player until the summer of 2014 — with the exception of a loan stint at Blackpool. He then took his career to Australia, where he joined Perth Glory.
Speaking today to ‘Inside Glory’, the club’s official podcast, Keogh reflected on his partnership with the leading goalscorer at the 2018 World Cup.
“We had six months together and it was a partnership I really thrived on,” said the 32-year-old Dubliner. “We got Millwall out of the relegation zone and went from there. I was banging on the manager’s door to re-sign him for the next season but he went on to bigger and better things.
“He had a great attitude, hungry for goals, hungry to shoot from anywhere — he was very good. He needed to work on the fitness side of things, the physical attributes, and he did. Everyone can see where that’s taken him to, which is the next level.”
Andy Keogh in possession for Perth Glory during Saturday's victory over Brisbane Roar. AAP / PA Images
AAP / PA Images / PA Images
Keogh has made a good start to his fifth season in Perth. With the team joint-top of the A-League, the Irish striker has scored in each of their three games so far this season.
Kane, who became the second-fastest player to reach 100 Premier League goals earlier this year, will be hoping to help Tottenham keep their Champions League hopes alive this evening when they host PSV Eindhoven at Wembley.
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Andy Keogh recalls his prolific partnership with an 18-year-old Harry Kane
HE HAS SINCE gone on to achieve much bigger and better things, but Harry Kane has never been reluctant to acknowledge the importance of his loan spell at Millwall.
“I had a great time at Millwall. It was a big part of my development. I was 18 at the time, playing in the Championship,” the Tottenham Hotspur star told the Evening Standard before the two clubs met in the FA Cup quarter-finals in March 2017.
“We were in a relegation battle and it probably turned me into a man, really. I was playing in difficult, high-pressure games and I managed to come out of it positively.”
Champions League football, the England captaincy and World Cup Golden Boot awards were merely pipe dreams back then for the Londoner, whose form for club and country in recent years has seen him come to be regarded as one of the game’s top strikers.
When he arrived at Millwall at the turn of the new year in 2012, Kane’s only first-team experience as a Tottenham player had come in the Europa League. A couple of weeks after playing against Shamrock Rovers in Tallaght, he moved to The Den until the end of the season in a bid to help a side hovering above the relegation zone.
Millwall won just once in Kane’s first eight outings for the club in the Championship. His own barren spell finally ended in late February, when a first league goal arrived at the ninth attempt. It also happened to mark the first game in which the youngster was partnered up front by Millwall’s Irish striker, Andy Keogh.
The duo each scored in a 3-1 win away to Burnley. Recognising their potential as a partnership, Kenny Jackett put his faith in Kane and Keogh for the run-in and they didn’t leave the Millwall boss down.
After they both netted in a 2-1 win over Leicester City that ensured Millwall’s survival, Jackett said: “We’ve had some form off the back of Andy Keogh and Harry Kane’s partnership. It has been a good partnership for us and has given us a threat all of the time, which at different stages of the season we haven’t had. That partnership has given us something to work off.”
In the club’s remaining 14 games of the Championship campaign, the pair managed 16 goals between them — nine for Keogh, seven for Kane. The south-east London outfit, who went unbeaten for their final seven fixtures, comfortably avoided the drop to League One in the end.
“Andy Keogh was the unsung hero of Kane’s stay at Millwall,” wrote South London Press reporter Toby Porter back in June while Harry Kane was leading England to the World Cup semi-finals in Russia.
“He [Keogh] was always looking for the teenager, teeing up for him and playing off him. The duo seemed to always know where the other one was. Finishing is crucial, but it has little value without good positioning.”
In spite of Millwall’s attempts to keep him, Kane returned to Tottenham for the 2012/13 season. He was handed his Premier League debut before the club sought to continue his development with loan spells at Norwich City and Leicester City.
Keogh, who scored his second goal for Ireland in a 6-1 defeat to Germany that October, remained a Millwall player until the summer of 2014 — with the exception of a loan stint at Blackpool. He then took his career to Australia, where he joined Perth Glory.
Speaking today to ‘Inside Glory’, the club’s official podcast, Keogh reflected on his partnership with the leading goalscorer at the 2018 World Cup.
“We had six months together and it was a partnership I really thrived on,” said the 32-year-old Dubliner. “We got Millwall out of the relegation zone and went from there. I was banging on the manager’s door to re-sign him for the next season but he went on to bigger and better things.
“He had a great attitude, hungry for goals, hungry to shoot from anywhere — he was very good. He needed to work on the fitness side of things, the physical attributes, and he did. Everyone can see where that’s taken him to, which is the next level.”
Keogh has made a good start to his fifth season in Perth. With the team joint-top of the A-League, the Irish striker has scored in each of their three games so far this season.
Kane, who became the second-fastest player to reach 100 Premier League goals earlier this year, will be hoping to help Tottenham keep their Champions League hopes alive this evening when they host PSV Eindhoven at Wembley.
Subscribe to our new podcast, Heineken Rugby Weekly on The42, here:
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A-League Andy Keogh Harry Kane Premier League Special K Millwall Tottenham Hotspur