John Kennedy (Northern Irish footballer)

John Kennedy (born 4 September 1939), widely known as Jack Kennedy, is a former professional footballer from Northern Ireland who played as a goalkeeper. He played for several years for Distillery in his native country before turning professional with Celtic. After a spell in the United States with the Detroit Cougars, he spent seven years with English Football League club Lincoln City and had a spell in non-league football with Lincoln United. Kennedy was an amateur international for Northern Ireland, played for the Irish League representative team, and kept goal for Great Britain in qualifying matches for the 1964 Summer Olympics.

John Kennedy
Personal information
Full name John Kennedy[1]
Date of birth (1939-09-04) 4 September 1939[1]
Place of birth Newtownards, Northern Ireland
Height 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)[2]
Playing position(s) Goalkeeper
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1957–1965 Distillery 241 (0)
1965–1967 Celtic 0 (0)
1967 Detroit Cougars 12 (0)
1967–1974 Lincoln City 251 (0)
1974–1976 Lincoln United
National team
1961–1965 Northern Ireland amateur 7 (0)
1964 Great Britain 2 (0)
1964 Irish League 3 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Life and club career

Kennedy was born in Newtownards, Northern Ireland. He attended a rugby-playing school, but played association football for Boys' Brigade and church teams.[1] When he was 18, he signed for Distillery as an amateur.[1] He made his first-team debut in 1958, and soon became the club's regular goalkeeper. He helped Distillery win the Irish League title in 1962–63 – their first championship in 60 years – in a 4–2 defeat of their nearest rivals, Linfield, on the last day of the season,[3] and played on the losing side against the same opposition in the 1963 Irish Cup Final.[1] The League win afforded qualification for the preliminary round of the European Cup, in which Distillery were drawn against Portuguese champions Benfica, who had reached the final the previous year. Kennedy kept goal as Distillery, captained by the 41-year-old former England international Tom Finney, who was reportedly paid £500 to come out of retirement to play in the game,[4] held the twice European champions to a 3–3 draw.[5] They lost the second leg 5–0.[6] By the end of his Distillery career, Kennedy had played 241 games in the Irish League, and had won the County Antrim Shield in 1964 and the City Cup twice.[2]

In March 1965, Kennedy turned professional and became Jock Stein's first signing as manager of Celtic, for a £5,000 fee. He played only one first-team game for the club in two seasons. He replaced regular goalkeeper John Fallon for the second leg of a League Cup quarter-final against Raith Rovers, and kept a clean sheet as Celtic progressed 12–1 on aggregate, but Stein selected Ronnie Simpson for the next Scottish League match, and it was Simpson who established himself in the starting eleven.[7] Kennedy was released at the end of the 1966–67 season, and guested for the Glentoran team that played as the Detroit Cougars in the United Soccer Association,[8][9] an embryonic professional league in the United States whose inaugural season featured only imported teams.[10]

On his return, he signed for Lincoln City of the Football League Fourth Division. He went straight into the first team, and was ever-present for his first 18 months.[1] A fractured elbow, sustained in the first half of an FA Cup replay against Chester which Lincoln won to earn a third-round meeting with First Division club Birmingham City,[11] kept him out for the second half of the 1968–69 season, but once he regained fitness he kept his place as first-choice goalkeeper until ending his Football League career at the end of the 1973–74 season. He had played 278 senior matches for the club, of which 251 came in the Football League. In 1970, Kennedy was the first to receive Lincoln City's Supporters' Club Player of the Season award. He remained with the club for a time as a youth coach, and played for Lincoln United in the Yorkshire League. A cartilage operation put an end to his playing career.[1]

While at Lincoln City, Kennedy had combined football with a teaching career. He remained in the Lincoln area after he finished playing football, where he taught at the City School until his retirement in 1994.[1][3]

Representative football

Kennedy won seven caps for the Northern Ireland amateur international team. He played twice in early 1961, against Wales and Scotland in the British amateur Home Championship, and in five consecutive games from September 1963 against England to January 1965 against Wales.[12] He "put up a brilliant show during the spells of heavy Welsh pressure" in 1964 to ensure a draw,[13] which combined with a defeat of England and a draw with Scotland contributed to Northern Ireland winning that year's British amateur championship outright.[12]

After the other goalkeeper in Great Britain's squad, Griffin of Leytonstone, struggled in a 4–0 defeat in a warmup match against a Manchester United reserve team, the Daily Express predicted that Kennedy would keep goal in the Olympic qualifier against Greece.[14] He did, conceding once in the first leg at Stamford Bridge as Britain took a 2–1 lead,[15] and a "sparkling display" in another warmup match, against Coventry City,[16] meant he kept his place for the away leg, which Greece won 4–1.[17]

That same year he represented the Irish League in inter-league matches. He played twice against the League of Ireland XI, a 4–2 loss in which he saved a penalty[18] and a 2–2 draw, and once in a 4–0 defeat to the Football League XI.[2]

Honours

Northern Ireland Amateur XI

  • British Championship: 1964

Distillery

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References
  1. "John Kennedy". The Lincoln City FC Archive. Lincoln City F.C. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 10 May 2013. Season details are sourced via the Season Stats dropdown menu at the bottom right of this page. The site is partly subscription-based, but only free-access sections are used for reference. If pop-up login dialogue boxes appear, press the "Cancel" button to proceed.
  2. Dewart, Jonny, ed. (24 October 2009). "Jack Kennedy". Northern Ireland's Footballing Greats. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
  3. "Legends celebrated at anniversary event". Ulster Star. 31 March 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
  4. "Dundalk's mighty task in Zurich". Irish Times. 25 September 1963. p. 3.
  5. "Benfica held by Finney touch". The Times. 26 September 1963. p. 3.
  6. "1963/64 European Champions Clubs' Cup: Lisburn Distillery FC". UEFA. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
  7. Campbell, Tom & Potter, David (1998). Jock Stein: The Celtic Years. Edinburgh: Mainstream. p. 3. ISBN 1-84018-241-5.
  8. "Detroit Cougars Rosters". NASL Rosters. Dave Morrison. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
  9. "Detroit Cougars". Glentoran F.C. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
  10. Holroyd, Steve (15 August 2008). "The Year in American Soccer – 1967". American Soccer History Archives. David Litterer. Archived from the original on 28 March 2019. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
  11. "Harris swoop clinches it". Daily Express. 12 December 1968. p. 19.
  12. Dewart, Jonny, ed. (3 February 2013). "Northern Ireland Amateur International Match Line-Ups". Northern Ireland's Footballing Greats. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
  13. "Welsh half back line superb". Irish Times. 13 January 1964. p. 4.
  14. Nichol, Leslie (4 February 1964). "Mitten rips Olympic hopes". Daily Express. p. 14.
  15. Hackett, Desmond (13 February 1964). "Brave Britain's one goal lead isn't enough". Daily Express. p. 16.
  16. Nichol, Leslie (3 March 1964). "Lawrence fractures skull in Olympics warm-up". Daily Express. p. 16.
  17. Nichol, Leslie (9 April 1964). "Penalty cracks so-sad Britain". Daily Express. p. 22.
  18. Devlin, Seamus (18 March 1964). "Merited victory for South side". Irish Times. p. 5A.
  • John Kennedy at Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Database
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