Vic Keeble, the prolific centre forward whose goals helped West Ham United clinch the Second Division title in 1958, was born on this day, 25 June, in 1930.
Essex-born Keeble scored 51 goals in just 84 senior appearances in Claret and Blue, including 19 in the Hammers’ 1957/58 promotion-winning season, securing a welcome return to the First Division after a 26-year absence.
A powerful, robust striker with a hard shot and dominant aerial ability, Keeble played for Arsenal, hometown club Colchester United and Newcastle United, with whom he won the FA Cup in 1955, before joining West Ham for £10,000 in October 1957.
The new boy announced his arrival in style, scoring on his debut at home to Doncaster Rovers before bagging a hat-trick in a 5-0 thrashing of Stoke City at the Boleyn Ground on just his fifth appearance in Claret and Blue.
Another treble followed in an FA Cup third-round thumping of Blackpool in January 1958 and, by the end of his first season in east London, Keeble had netted 24 goals in just 33 games.
The most important of those 24 goals came at Middlesbrough on the final day of the 1957/58 campaign, as he scored the third goal in West Ham’s historic Second Division title-clinching 3-1 victory at Ayresome Park.
Having been promoted to the First Division, the rise in standard held no fears for Keeble, who marked his first top-flight appearance for the Hammers with a goal in a 2-1 victory at Portsmouth in August 1958.
And the goals continued to flow as Ted Fenton’s side finished sixth on their return to the First Division, with Keeble netting 21 times.
For much of his West Ham career, Keeble shared the forward line with Scotsman John Dick, with the pair combining to score 101 goals between October 1957 and May 1959.
A back injury forced Keeble into retirement at the age of 30, with his final appearance for the Club coming in a First Division fixture at Leeds United on 16 January 1960.
Having hung up his boots, he moved home to north Essex and returned to Colchester United to serve as commercial manager and later worked as an administrator at non-league club Chelmsford City.
Keeble also continued to visit West Ham regularly, attending for the final time for a Premier League fixture with Hull City at the Boleyn Ground in February 2010.
He passed away in January 2018, aged 87, but, on what would have been his birthday, Vic Keeble's contribution to West Ham United history will never be forgotten.
