A 34-YEAR-OLD football manager died a week after being diagnosed with a rare, aggressive skin cancer.

Kieran Keigher, who managed Mill Hill St Peter’s Football Club, spent his final few days preparing to marry the love of his life Rachel from his hospital bed after being diagnosed with a rare melanoma.

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The former St Mary’s College student, of Brotherston Drive, Blackburn, had everything to live for after proposing to his partner of five years at the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris last month.

Just two weeks before his death Kieran was forced to visit the hospital after suffering episodes of severe vomiting.

It was during tests to find the cause of the vomiting that the former Old Blackburnians FC player was given the heartbreaking news by doctors that cancer was present in his brain and lungs.

Kieran, who formerly worked as a legal adviser for Farleys Solicitors before moving on to work for BPS Law, died in the early hours of last Tuesday surrounded by his loved ones.

His mum, Phil Keigher, said: “I feel that thanks must go to the staff at Royal Blackburn Hospital for everything they did.

“They are doing their best every day and get so much negativity. They looked after Kieran to the best of their ability and we could not fault them.

“My proudest moment was hearing his boss talk about how committed he was to his job. It made me feel very humble. He was my youngest child and he was a very special son.”

Father Ged Barry, the hospital chaplain, performed a religious ceremony to marry Kieran and Rachel just hours before the groom’s death.

Rachel described her husband as fun, caring and supportive.

She said: “Everything we ever did together is special to me, even when I just used to watch him in matches with Mill Hill.

“We went on so many city breaks to New York, Florida and Paris. I knew nothing about his proposal at the top of the Eiffel Tower — only his mum knew.

“He really looked after me and never wanted me to worry about anything. He was always there for me and was such a fun husband.”

Kieran dedicated his life to football as a passionate Blackburn Rovers season-ticket holder. He also managed the first team and reserves at Mill Hill St Peters and he played as a left winger for Old Blackburnians FC, twice becoming a league champion.

His career started to thrive when he represented Lancashire while he was a student at Blackburn’s Our Lady & St John Catholic College.

He went on to study at St Mary’s College and spent a lot of time at Crosshill special school as a teaching assistant in PE.

Kieran’s childhood best friend Matt Baldwin, who he met at St Anthony’s RC Primary School in Shadsworth when aged nine, said: “He had a left foot like a magic wand. He looked up to players like Alan Shearer, Chris Sutton, all of them from that special team that won the Premier League.

“He was an amazing friend. I could call him at any time and he would always come and help as much as he could.

“I will fondly remember all the good times we had playing together at Old Blacks and at Mill Hill as well as Islington Boys and Bay Horse Saab.”

Matt was set to be Kieran’s best man for his marriage to Rachel, which was originally due to take place in August.

Jack Lord, former manager of Old Blackburnians, said: “What a future he had in football at a young age. He was a pleasure to have in my team.”

Older brothers John and Dave Keigher remember numerous trips with Kieran to watch Rovers in England and abroad.

Dave said: “Kieran would do anything for anyone — there was hardly anybody who did not know him in Blackburn.

“Even if you were looking at a picture from a party that was not of him, he was somewhere in the background having a whale of a time. He had a really nice balanced outlook on life and knew how to live it well.”

As well as Rachel and his mum, Kieran leaves his four brothers, two nieces and a nephew and six godchildren. His father Thomas Keigher passed away. 

Kieran’s funeral will take place at 11.45am today at St Albans Church followed by cremation at Pleasington Crematorium. Family flowers only have been requested. Donations in his memory can be made to Mill Hill St Peters FC.