Roy Keane shows his soft side in adorable holiday photos with his grandchildren

Roy Keane is famend for being a tricky character on and off the sphere – 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 together with his household, he’s similar to anybody else – a doting grandfather with a softer facet.

Not too long ago, the previous Manchester United captain confirmed that facet in full on Instagram, sharing a collection of snaps from a household vacation to have fun his 54th birthday.

Among the many images and movies have been moments of Keane splashing round within the pool together with his grandchildren, serving to them construct sandcastles on the seashore, and smiling proudly as he held his youngest – and third – grandchild, born earlier this yr.

The caption to his birthday publish was as heat as the photographs themselves: “Completely satisfied 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 smooth centre.

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