Talking Sport
Nomadic US striker banging in the goals for Galway FC
Talking Sport with Stephen Glennon
Galway FC’s American striker Jake Keegan may joke that he comes from soccer royalty – his dad’s name is ‘Kevin Keegan’ – but if he keeps scoring goals for fun for his new club in its debut season in the League of Ireland First Division he may well receive a regal title in his own right.
To date, Keegan has netted 11 league goals – his latest in last weekend’s 3-0 victory over Finn Harps – while the stats show he has also had seven assists and that is impressive by any standards.
In addition, he has also found the net twice in Cup competitions, including a precious goal in Galway FC’s 3-1 FAI Cup win over Premier Division outfit UCD in June. He has certainly caught the eye of, and endeared himself to, supporters.
How, though, did Keegan end up in Galway? “I get asked that plenty,” laughs the 24-year-old. “I was in [Binghampton] University up until 2012 and I was drafted by a MLS team (Philadelphia Union) in America but instead of going on trial to them – for the lower draft picks it is going on trial really – I went over to Israel on trial with Maccabi Haifa.” So began his journey to Europe.
From an early age though, the Stormville New York native was recognised as a talent. He played his youth football with East Fishkill Thunder in the East Hudson Youth Soccer League for 12 years and was part of the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association’s Olympic Development Programme for five years.
In later years, he lined out with the Westchester Flames, netting 27 goals in the 28 games he played in between 2011 and 2012. Indeed, in 2011, he scored 16 goals in 16 games for the Flames, winning the USL PDL’s Golden Boot and was named on the All-League selection and Rookie of the Year.
With Keegan also breaking goal-scoring records with Binghampton University, he was selected in the third round of the 2013 Major League Soccer supplemental draft by Philadelphia Union but he turned it down for the opportunity to trial with Maccabi Haifa in January of last year.
Unfortunately, he was unable to secure a contract with the Israeli outfit. “They are a big club and I was only there for two and a half to three weeks but it was definitely the highest level I have ever trained at, for sure,” continues the affable American.
“I know they only signed Benayoun (former Liverpool and Chelsea star) in the past year but when I trained they still had players who had played in the Premier League in England. It was an unbelievable level to be honest with you. It was a different style of play. It was definitely an eye opener.”
In the following months, Keegan flitted between FC Lustenau in Austria, Jersey Express in the United States and Austria Lustenau back in Europe. Eventually, he signed for lower league German side FCA Darmstadt, scoring 10 goals in his first 10 games.
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.