A chronology of Keane's footballing career
1971: Born in Cork, August 10th.
1987: Joins Cobh Ramblers after building reputation with junior club Rockmount.
1990: June 12th - signed by Brian Clough for Nottingham Forest for £10,000.
1991: Makes Republic of Ireland debut in 1-1 draw with Chile in Dublin.
1993: July 19th - Joins Manchester United for then British transfer record £3.75 million after 154 matches and 33 goals for Forest.
August 15th - Makes United league debut at Norwich.
1994: Helps Ireland reach the second round of the World Cup in the United States, figuring in all four matches.
1995: Sent off for first time in career for stamping on Crystal Palace's Gareth Southgate during FA Cup semi-final replay. Hit with disrepute charge by Football Association and later fined £5,000.
1996: March - Sent off on his 30th appearance for the Republic of Ireland against Russia in Mick McCarthy's first match as manager.
May - Fails to report for McCarthy's testimonial and Ireland training after going on holiday to Italy, is denied captaincy and left out for six matches by the national boss.
1997: April - Misses penalty for Republic against Romania and escapes without punishment after being involved in alleged butting incident.
August - Named United captain following Eric Cantona's departure.
September - Injures his knee trying to foul Leeds' Alfie Haaland at Elland Road.
October 2nd - Manchester United announce he will miss the rest of the season with cruciate ligament damage.
1998: July - makes his United return in pre-season friendly against Norwegian side Valerenga in Oslo and quickly rediscovers his best form.
1999: April - Booked in Champions League semi-final second leg against Juventus ruling him out of final against Bayern Munich.
December - Signs a new four-year deal to stay at Old Trafford.
2000: January - Reveals he would like to finish his career at Celtic.
2001: March -Scores twice in Ireland's 4-0 win in Cyprus but criticises FAI over the facilities at the team's training base.
April - Sent off after again clashing with Haaland in United's derby encounter with Manchester City.
September - Sent off for the ninth time in his United career after raising his hands at Newcastle's Alan Shearer.
November - Features in the first leg of the Republic of Ireland's World Cup qualifier over Iran but is forced to miss the second leg after aggravating the knee injury which hampered the early part of his season.
2002: March 2nd - Agrees new four-year deal to stay at Old Trafford until June 2006.
May 23rd - Keane is sent home from the World Cup after a row with Republic of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy.
August - Keane's autobiography is serialised in newspapers in which he reveals details of his red-card tackle on Alf Inge Haaland.
Keane also claims he would have played in the World Cup had manager Mick McCarthy not accused him of feigning injury.
August 16th: Manchester City and Haaland announce they will jointly sue Keane over the tackle.
September 1st: Keane sent off for elbowing Jason McAteer during Manchester United's 1-1 draw at Sunderland.
September 4th: Charged by the FA with two counts of bringing the game into disrepute - both relating to the Haaland incident. Keane given 14 days to respond.
September 17th - Given 48-hour extension to the deadline to respond to FA charges.
September 20th - Confirms he is to contest both charges.
October 15th - FA committee finds him guilty of both charges. He is banned for five games and fined £150,000 subject to appeal.
November 7th - Confirms he will not appeal against the punishment.
2003: February 11th - Despite the efforts of new Ireland manager Brian Kerr to tempt him back into the international set-up, Keane announces his intention to retire from international football.
May 11th - Lifts the Premiership trophy at Goodison Park as United hold off Arsenal for the title.
2004: February 25th - Sent off as United lose in Porto in a Champions League last-16 clash.
April 13th - Announces he will again play for Republic of Ireland.
April 20th - Recalled to Republic squad for friendly against Poland but later pulls out with injury.
May 27th - Makes first appearance for Ireland since McCarthy bust-up in friendly with Romania.
September 21th - Charged with assault and criminal damage by police.
September 23th - Denies assaulting a 16-year-old boy, causing criminal damage, and using threatening or abusive behaviour when he appears before magistrates in Trafford.
November 4th - Inducted into the National Football Museum's Hall of Fame.
November 5th - Alex Ferguson hails him as the finest player of his 18 years at Old Trafford and tips him to be a managerial success in the future.
2005: February 1st - Involved in heated pre-match tunnel row with Arsenal captain Patrick Vieira before United run out comprehensive 4-2 winners in another titanic tussle between the two sides at Highbury.
February 5th - Scores his 50th goal for United in 2-0 Premiership win over Birmingham.
February 7th - Ferguson claims Keane will be remembered as one of United's greatest players "500 years from now".
March 1st - Cleared of assault and criminal damage against a teenager who taunted him in the street at Trafford Magistrates Court.
April 13th - Subjects his United team-mates to a withering verbal attack by questioning their attitude after an embarrassing 2-0 Premiership defeat at lowly Norwich.
May 16th - Angers Southampton fans by mocking their relegation plight before being ushered off the pitch after a 2-1 win at St Mary's, a result that contributed to the Saints drop from the Premiership.
May 21th - Denied the opportunity to pick up a record equalling fifth FA Cup winner's medal as Arsenal win through on penalties at the Millennium Stadium.
July - Left out of United's squad for tour of Far East due to hamstring injury. United deny anything more sinister is cause of his absence.
August - Ferguson admits he had a row with Keane at United's pre-season training camp in Portugal in July.
September 14th - Keane ruled out of action for two weeks due to hamstring injury.
September 20th - Makes surprisingly early return for United's goalless draw at Liverpool but limps off after breaking a bone in his left foot.
September 29th - Announces he expects to leave United at the end of the 2005/06 season but plans to play on for "another year or two" with a non-English club.
October 14th: Announces his international retirement for a second time.
