UTD Unscripted: My journey with Keano

It wasn’t long before Roy was playing at Celtic and then he went straight into management at Sunderland at the start of the 2006/07 season. Meanwhile, United started the season really well and I went to Royal Antwerp on loan with a few other lads, including Danny Simpson. That was going well, but they had a winter break in Belgium and both Simmo and I were told we would be going back to England with a view to joining a Championship club on loan.

When it came up in conversation that Roy wanted us both to join Sunderland, that was a no-brainer.

I went up to the Stadium of Light to watch a game right at the end of December, I think it was a Saturday game against Preston. I drove up by myself in my Mini. Halfway up the motorway on the way to the game, the steering wheel locked, so I had to pull in – well, drift gently in – to the services and get a taxi the rest of the way to the game. I just left the car there.

Luckily for me, Roy had also approached one of our coaches, Neil Bailey, about taking a job at the same time, and Neil was at the same game. I didn’t know him too well, but we knew of each other from working at United. I’d heard a lot of good things about him. We got talking at the game and he gave me a lift back down the road.

The next week, a day before my birthday, Roy called me.

“We want you up to sign tomorrow, make your way up to Sunderland to training and we’ll get you into a hotel.”