Roy Keane is famend for being a tricky character on and off the sector – first as a participant, then as a pundit – with crunching tackles and even harder phrases down the digicam.
However whereas he could also be considered one of soccer’s most feared hardmen, away from the sport and along with his household, he’s identical to anybody else – a doting grandfather with a softer aspect.
Just lately, the previous Manchester United captain confirmed that aspect in full on Instagram, sharing a collection of snaps from a household vacation to have a good time his 54th birthday.
Among the many images and movies had been moments of Keane splashing round within the pool along with his grandchildren, serving to them construct sandcastles on the seaside, and smiling proudly as he held his youngest – and third – grandchild, born earlier this yr.
The caption to his birthday submit was as heat as the photographs themselves: “Blissful Birthday to me. All of the items I would like.”
For a person whose profession was constructed on grit and metal, it was a uncommon public glimpse of the gentler moments that matter most.
Even the hardest captains, it seems, have a comfortable centre.