Newcastle United will wear black armbands across all their teams and hold a minute's silence during pre-season matches to honour Kevin Keegan, who has died at the age of 75 (Premier League; BBC Sport).

The most touching detail is also the simplest. Keegan's photograph will appear on the big screens at St James' Park in the seventh minute of play — a nod to the number seven shirt he wore as a player and manager who transformed the club. The seventh-minute tribute is scheduled for Newcastle's men's friendlies against Bayer Leverkusen and Strasbourg on 15 and 16 August, and for the women's team's match against Inter Milan on 16 August (BBC Sport).

A minute's silence will be observed before Newcastle's friendly at Gateshead, while the club has confirmed it will consult Keegan's family about plans for a permanent memorial (BBC Sport).

Keegan's family first disclosed his cancer diagnosis in January. In June, he revealed it was stage four. A statement from the family said he was surrounded by his wife and daughters in his final moments (BBC Sport).

Few figures loom as large over a single club as Keegan does over Newcastle. As a player, he turned out for Scunthorpe United, Hamburg, and Southampton before arriving on Tyneside. As manager, he guided Newcastle to promotion to the Premier League in 1992-93 — the top flight of English football — and came agonisingly close to winning the title in 1995-96, finishing second in a season still remembered for the club's attacking swagger. His managerial career also took him to Fulham, England, and Manchester City (BBC Sport).

The wider football world has been paying its own respects. The Premier League's homepage displays a photo collage of Keegan as both Newcastle manager and Liverpool player, captioned "Kevin Keegan 1951-2026" (Premier League). Liverpool, where Keegan won multiple league titles and European Cups in the 1970s, has also published a video tribute titled "In his own words" on its official platform (Liverpool FC).

For Newcastle supporters, the seventh minute in August will carry a weight that goes beyond ceremony. It is the number Keegan made iconic, and the number the club is now using to make sure a generation that never saw him play still knows his name.