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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Sport
Mark Donlon

Inside Roy Keane's private life with wife Theresa and five kids

Roy Keane is known for being a private person away from the world of football. However, after setting up an Instagram account last year, fans have been able to get a sneak peek at his life with his wife, Theresa.

The former Manchester United talisman and his wife moved into their home in Woodbridge after putting their Tudor mansion up for sale in 2015.

The couple have been married for more than 20 years and share five children together; Shannon, Caragh, Aidan, Leah and Alanna.

READ MORE: Teddy Sheringham believes Ireland would be at the World Cup if Jack Grealish and Declan Rice opted to wear the green shirt

They met in 1992 while Keane was playing for Nottingham Forest, and they later tied the knot at the Church of Our Lady Crowned in his native town of Mayfield, Co. Cork in 1997.

Describing the first time he met Theresa, born in Nottingham but whose family are from Ireland, the 50-year-old said: "I spotted a beautiful girl in a club in town. Her name was Theresa Doyle, but she blanked me.

"She was in a steady relationship and didn't seem at all impressed by Roy Keane, the great footballer. In fact, I think my reputation was a downer for all kinds of reasons.

"From time to time, we ran into each other around Nottingham. I knew some of her friends, who told me Theresa was a dentist's assistant. Eventually, after her relationship broke up, she relented, and we went out together. I was in love."

While the sports star usually holds his cards close to his chest, he did open up about his wife during an interview with David Walsh for the Sunday Times in the early 2000s, saying Theresa is his 'rock'.

He said: "I don't really mention her in public, but in fairness to her, she has been a rock in my life. Just brilliant. She reads me better than I read myself.

"I wouldn't say Theresa likes every part of the package. She knows I haven't got a halo over my head. Actually, that's what she likes about me. She also knows I am not the nastiest person in the world."

In his autobiography, Keane said despite his triumphant sports career, he loves nothing more than spending time with his family.

He said after winning the Champions League with Manchester United in 1999, he "...longed to go home to Theresa and the kids."

The former Sunderland manager joked about hoping to spend more time with his family after hanging up his boots but said they wanted him to get back to work after just two months.

He said: "My plan when I first stopped was, we're going to go on some family trips, we're going to be like the Waltons.

"We're all going to spend time together, go walk in the park, and after a month or two, they didn't have the same plan as me, so I think they were kind of missing me going to work.

"I got offered the job at Sunderland, and I was away on a family holiday and my family were looking at me... not saying it directly but going we kind of enjoy your company but not too much of it so when the job came back up they were saying you should go for it."

Keane is currently in Qatar for the 2022 World Cup, where he is working as a pundit on ITV's coverage of the tournament.

With many criticising the host nation's human rights record as well as their treatment of the LGBTQ+ community in the run-up to proceedings kicking off, Keane himself was vocal on the matter.

He said: "You’ve got a country here - the way they treat migrant workers, gay people - I think it’s great it’s been brought up, they shouldn’t have a World Cup here, they can’t treat people like that.

"We love football, soccer and we want to spread the game but just to dismiss human rights flippantly because of football, it’s not right, it shouldn’t be here."

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