Keegan tribute display sees thousands of visitors

An exhibition featuring hundreds of shirts left outside Newcastle's stadium in tribute to Kevin Keegan has seen thousands of visitors.

Flowers, cards, shirts and scarves were placed at St James' Park by fans of the footballing legend in the days following his death on 20 July at the age of 75.

A free event at the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art last weekend, which featured a 57ft (17.5m) banner designed by fan group Wor Flags and a commemorative film celebrating Keegan, saw 3,805 people visit.

Designer Dan Lycett said it was his "most stressful" display so far because of what Keegan meant to him, saying: "He was my hero so I had to get it right."

Although not from Newcastle, Keegan was loved and admired by Geordies thanks to the influential stints he had as both a player and manager at the city's football club in the 1980s and '90s.

He was posthumously awarded the Freedom of Newcastle earlier this week.

"It was a very emotional piece," Lycett said.

"Just the word legend, but within that legend was shirts from many, many different teams that he touched."

As a player, Keegan helped secure promotion back to the First Division and as a manager, led the club up to the Premier League where his famous Entertainers team came close to winning the title.

Keegan went on to manage Fulham, Manchester City and England, before returning to Tyneside for a second spell in charge in 2008.

Newcastle United could not yet confirm plans for what would happen with the display.

Follow BBC Newcastle on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram, and listen to Radio Newcastle on BBC Sounds.