Number – 36
Position – Defender
Date joined FGR – February 2024.
Previous clubs – Ipswich, Vikingur (Iceland), Bristol City, Wycombe, Huddersfield, Carlisle, Cheltenham, Carlisle, Coventry, Derby, MK Dons, Huddersfield, Blackpool, Ipswich, Wycombe.
Date & Place of birth – 11 August 1986, Harlow.
Richard was capped 26 times by the Republic of Ireland. Although Keogh was born in England, his paternal family is Irish.
At Bristol City he was Young Player of the Year 2006-07. At Carlisle he won the club’s Player of the Year Award for the 2009–10 season. At Coventry Keogh was named the Player of the Year for the 2011–12 season & Players Player of the Year for both 2010-11 & 2011-12.
While at Derby County he won the club’s Player of the Year Award twice (in 2012-13 and 2015-16) and the Players’ Player of the Year Award on three occasions (2012-13, 2015-16 and 2018-19). He was named in the 2014-15 PFA team of the Year.
In September 2019, Keogh was injured in a car crash and ruled out for the rest of the 2019-20 season. His Derby teammates Mason Bennet and Tom Lawrence were arrested for drink-driving and leaving the scene of an accident. In October 2019, Derby terminated the remainder of his contract due to gross misconduct, with Bennet and Lawrence receiving a six-week wage fine and being sentenced to 80 hours of community service and rehabilitation. Keogh left Derby having made 356 appearances and scored 12 goals across eight seasons.
Keogh launched appeals to both Derby and the EFL over his sacking, but both were rejected. However, after appealing to an employment tribunal with support from the Professional Footballers Association in January 2021, it officially ruled that Keogh had been unfairly dismissed and Derby were ordered to pay £2.3 million in compensation. Derby appealed against the decision, but this was rejected in May 2021.
For information about the FGR Squad click here – The FGR Squad – Forest Green Rovers Supporters Club (fgrsc.com)
