A marvellously talented, sometimes temperamental individualist who lent £100.000 worth of forceful right-flank panache to Jimmy Bloomfield’s elegant teams of the early 70’s, Keith could usually be relied up on to deliver a tellingly spectacular contribution to the most mundane of games.
Leicester City fans were treated to regular displays of both his midfield and striking skills, while national television audiences also gasped at some of his exploits; a mazy ‘Goal of the season’ at Luton in the FA Cup (and a long range own goal on the same ground a year later!), a thunderbolt volley against Newcastle, and Keith’s final City goal – when he dazzled Norwich defenders with his white tights – among them.
Keith won four England caps (scoring once with a rare header) and once represented the Football League while with City – and he had previously toured New Zealand and the Far East with an FA party during his Millwall days – yet his sole honor at club level remained his medal from Chelsea’s European Cup Winners’ Cup victory of 1971.
His occasional frustrations at Leicester City peaked in the notorious incident when he refused to take the field for the second half of a League game against Ipswich in December 1974, and his last couple of Filbert Street seasons were marred by knee injuries of his cool brilliance predominate, Keith settled longer than most in Stateside football, moving into club management and coaching roles in both the conventional and indoor games, and in early-90’s forming a partnership with Joe Waters at Tacome Stars.
After retirement in 1993, he remained in Seattle, driving an outside broadcast rig for a local TV station. Keith Weller passed away in 2004, after a long battle with cancer illness, leaving us at only 58 years of age.
FACTFILE:
- Full Name: Keith Weller
- Position: Midfield
- Date of Birth: 11.06.1946, Date of Death: 12.11.2004
- Birthplace: Islington, London
- Nation: England
- Caps / Goals: 4/1
- Major League Career:
- 1964-67, Tottenham Hotspur (21/1)
- 1967-70, Millwall (121/40)
- 1970-71, Chelsea (38/14)
- 1971-79, Leicester City (262/37)
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