Kevin Keegan, manager of super-glamorous football team Newcastle United, was forced to resign in January, not by outraged fans or lacklustre performance, but by a new force in the game: investment bankers. Keegan had quietly agreed with his board to quit in May. However, Newcastle was preparing a stock exchange flotation and its bankers insisted the information had to be in the prospectus. Such a bombshell, it was realized, would have destabilized the float. Keegan took an early bath.
February 01, 1997