'I scored a hat-trick...their fans gave me an ovation' - Keano on Wolves

Before joining us in 2002, before 122 goals in 306 appearances, lifting the League Cup and becoming only the 15th player in our history to reach a century of goals, before taking the mantle of the Republic of Ireland’s record goalscorer and cap, before all of that, for Robbie Keane, there was Wolves.

That famous ‘old gold’ kit will always have a special place in Robbie’s heart.

It’s at Molineux the Irish hero made his name as a 17-year-old back in 1997. Born in Tallaght, Dublin, ‘Keano’ scored twice on his debut in the Championship against Norwich City on 9 August, 1997, and went on to bag 29 goals in 87 appearances before the Premier League and Coventry City came calling in 1999. The goals continued to flow and via Inter and Leeds United, Robbie found his home at Spurs in August, 2002.

He didn’t look back, but never forgot those early days when he left Dublin for Wolverhampton, aged just 16. He remembers fondly his landlady, Josie Edwards and is still friends with Chris Evans, Wolves’ former Academy boss who brought him to England.

“I’ve a lot to thank Wolves for,” said Robbie, now assistant manager to Jonathan Woodgate at Middlesbrough and on the FAI’s coaching team. “They gave me my opportunity and started my career. I had a great time there.

“For any kid, first and foremost, you want to play, and you want to be a footballer. It just doesn’t happen overnight. It had been building up for a while and I had a couple of clubs willing to give me the opportunity to come over.

“It wasn’t easy, of course. I was only a kid, the first few months were difficult, leaving Ireland. It’s only across the water but when you are a kid it feels a million miles away. It was something I wanted. I wanted to be a professional football player. Wolves showed a lot of faith in me and gave me the opportunity.

“I’d just turned 17 when I made my debut, scored twice at Norwich. That was one of the reasons I went to Wolves, the opportunity to play straight away.

“Did I think the opportunity was going to come that early? No. I didn’t even play a reserve game. I went straight from the youth team, trained in pre-season with the first team, went to Scotland in pre-season with the first team, did well, made my debut against Norwich and scored twice with my mum and dad there watching. That was obviously a great occasion.

“Any kid’s dream is to play, first and foremost, but to then score two goals in a win, that was perfect. I carried on from there...

“It was just circumstances in the end why I left. Wolves were in the Championship and I left to better my career. They understood that. They knew it was in my interests to play in the Premier League and that’s what I did.

“Every time I went back to Molineux or scored against Wolves, I never celebrated. I remember scoring a hat-trick against them at the Lane (6 December, 2003), came off and their fans gave me a standing ovation. There are not many fans who would do that after scoring a hat-trick against them. That is something I’ll always take with me.”