Robbie Keane is currently coaching at Middlesbrough, but working for Championship rivals didn’t stop him coming back for Leeds United ’s centenary celebrations last month.
He was in attendance at the 100th birthday celebrations, alongside his current Middlesbrough colleagues Jonny Howson and Jonathan Woodgate.
The former Republic of Ireland international represented Leeds between 2001 and 2002, originally joining on loan for the latter half of the 2000-01 campaign, in which the club famously made it to the Champions League semi-finals.
Having arrived from Serie A giants Inter Milan, he was cup-tied for those big European nights, so he was a spectator for the big games against Lazio, Real Madrid, Deportivo La Coruña and Valencia.
“It’s very tough to pick one,” he answered, when asked if he has a favourite memory from his time at the time.
“Even at other clubs, it’s tough to pick one, because for me as a striker you’re always judged on scoring goals. I scored a few goals, so there’s always a few that I really enjoyed.”
“But it’s probably me being a part of the club and the Champions League run, I thought that was something special at that time. The club was really in a great place, and the place was absolutely buzzing, the lads were.
“Maybe that, I know I wasn’t playing, but that was special. Walking around Elland Road was something special, my Dad was a Leeds fan growing up as a kid, so it was special.”
He was a prolific goalscorer whilst on loan, and a vital player as Leeds won eight of their last nine Premier League games to close the gap - but ultimately just miss out on - another Champions League qualification place.
The following season wasn’t quite so fruitful, as he scored only three league goals as the sudden decline began, with the first real hints of serious trouble.
Sold to Tottenham the following season, he went on to notch over a hundred Premier League goals and became, by some distance, the Republic of Ireland’s all-time top scorer.
“There was a real feel-good factor toward the club at that time, and unfortunately a couple of years later we had to sell myself and Rio and a few others for money to keep it stable,” Keane added.
“But it looks like it’s coming back. He’s [Marcelo Bielsa] obviously done a good job, close last year, I’m sure they’ll be hoping to go up this year. Best of luck to them.”
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