John Kennedy (Scottish footballer)

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John Kennedy
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Kennedy playing for Celtic
Personal information
Full name John Kennedy
Date of birth (1983-08-18) 18 August 1983 (age 41)
Place of birth Bellshill, Scotland
Height Script error: No such module "person height".
Position(s) Centre back
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1999–2009 Celtic 28 (1)
2008 → Norwich City (loan) 16 (2)
International career
2002–2004 Scotland U-21s 15 (1)
2004 Scotland 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

John Kennedy (born 18 August 1983 in Bellshill, Scotland) is a retired Scottish professional footballer who played as a centre back for Celtic and Norwich City. He was also a Scotland international, but suffered a horrific knee injury on his Scotland debut in March 2004. He retired on 13 November 2009, having failed to fully recover and now works for Celtic as a youth coach.

Club career

Celtic

Kennedy is the grandson of Celtic and Manchester United player Jimmy Delaney, but he is not related to John Kennedy, a midfielder who played for Celtic in the 1960s. He came through Celtic's youth system and signed his first professional contract on the same day as fellow defender Stephen McManus. He made his first-team debut aged 16 during the 1999–00 season.[1] In the 2003–04 season, he had a run in the Celtic starting eleven and came under scrutiny from scouts of AC Milan who contacted Celtic about making a move.[2] It was during this season that Kennedy scored his only goal for Celtic, against Dundee in the SPL.[3]

Kennedy received high praise for his performance in a 0–0 draw with Barcelona in a UEFA Cup last-16 clash at the Camp Nou in March 2004.[4][5] He was rewarded with his first Scotland call-up for a friendly against Romania a week later. During the match, Kennedy sustained a serious injury after a shocking lunge on him by Ionel Ganea, which ruled him out of action for over two years.[1] Kennedy required several operations by Richard Steadman[6] before he could even attempt a comeback.[7]

Kennedy finally resumed training in late 2006, and was an unused substitute for Celtic's Champions League match against A.C. Milan on 20 February 2007. He played his first competitive match since the injury on 22 April 2007, when Celtic clinched the SPL championship by winning 2–1 against Kilmarnock.[8] Four days later, on 26 April, Kennedy signed a new three-year contract with the club.[9]

Kennedy made further appearances for Celtic over the next several months, but during a Champions League match against Shakhtar Donetsk on 28 November 2007, he was stretchered off after he twisted his knee on landing from an aerial challenge.[10] The initial diagnosis was that he sustained damage to his lateral meniscus and the posterior lateral complex of the same knee he had previously injured, ruling him out for three months.[11] This match proved to be Kennedy's final appearance for Celtic.[12]

Norwich City (loan)

On 14 July 2008, BBC Sport reported that Kennedy had joined Motherwell on a six-month loan deal,[13] but this report was denied by Celtic later that day[14] Kennedy did, however, meet up with the Motherwell squad in Austria, on trial. Soon afterwards, however, Kennedy joined Norwich City on loan until January 2009.[15] He made his Norwich debut in a 2–0 defeat to Coventry City at the Ricoh Arena on 9 August 2008.[16] Kennedy's performances for Norwich were impressive,[17][18] and he scored in games with Derby[19] and Preston North End.[20]

Return to Celtic

Kennedy suffered ankle ligament damage during his time at Norwich,[21] and returned to Celtic after further damaging his troubled knee in December 2008.[22] On 13 November 2009, it was announced that, at the age of just 26, Kennedy had retired from football on medical grounds.[12][23][24]

International career

Kennedy received his first Scotland call-up for a friendly against Romania on 31 March 2004. Just 14 minutes into the match, Kennedy sustained a serious injury after a "late challenge" on him by Ionel Ganea, which ruled him out of action for almost three years.[25] Kennedy required several operations by Richard Steadman[6] before he could even attempt a comeback.[7] Following his injury, the SFA compensated Celtic with respect to Kennedy's wages, as it had been suffered while he was playing in an international match.[1][26]

Testimonial

File:Pre-match, Celtic v Man U legends match.jpg
Celtic and Man Utd lining up before the John Kennedy's testimonial match, 9 August 2011

A testimonial fixture for Kennedy between Scotland and Celtic had been mooted,[1] while a match between Finn Harps and Celtic had been arranged for 28 November 2010, but was postponed. The game was replayed on Sunday 6 March with Celtic winning 4–1. A further testimonial match was arranged for Sunday 22 May 2011 at Celtic Park between the current Celtic side and some of the Celtic team that made it to Seville for the 2003 UEFA Cup Final including the manager back then, Martin O'Neill.[27] However, this match was also postponed, and eventually replaced with a match between a team of Celtic Legends, managed by Martin O'Neill, and a team of Manchester United Legends. The match was played on 9 August 2011 with Celtic winning 5–2, and the proceeds were donated to Oxfam's East Africa charity appeal.[28]

Scouting

After retiring as a player, Kennedy joined the scouting network at Celtic, and has travelled over Europe to help find new players for the club.[29][30]

Charity work

In the summer of 2010, Kennedy joined the board of Directors of the UK based charity Football Aid.[31]

References

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External links

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