Mick Kennedy
Personal information
Full name Michael Francis Martin Kennedy[1]
Date of birth (1961-04-09)9 April 1961[1]
Place of birth Salford, England[1]
Date of death 9 February 2019(2019-02-09) (aged 57)[2]
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[3]
Position(s) Midfielder
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1978–1980 Halifax Town 76 (4)
1980–1982 Huddersfield Town 81 (9)
1982–1984 Middlesbrough 68 (5)
1984–1987 Portsmouth 129 (4)
1987–1988 Bradford City 45 (2)
1988–1989 Leicester City 9 (0)
1989–1990 Luton Town 32 (0)
1990–1992 Stoke City 52 (3)
1992–1993 Chesterfield 27 (1)
1993–1994 Wigan Athletic 17 (1)
Total 535 (29)
International career
1986 Republic of Ireland 2 (0)
1982–1985 Republic of Ireland U-21 4 (2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Michael Francis Martin Kennedy (9 April 1961 – 9 February 2019) was a professional footballer who played in the English Football League for Halifax Town, Huddersfield Town, Middlesbrough, Portsmouth, Bradford City, Leicester City, Luton Town, Chesterfield and Wigan Athletic. Born in England, he gained two caps for Ireland during his career. Throughout his career he was renowned for his tough style of play which often left him with a poor disciplinary record.[1][4]

Club career

Kennedy was born in Salford and began his career with Halifax Town making his debut in 1978–79 as the Shaymen had a poor campaign finishing in 23rd position. The 1979–80 season saw Halifax make a marginal improvement finishing in 18th place. Kennedy impressed enough with Halifax to earn a £50,000 move to Third Division Huddersfield Town. His first season at Leeds Road was a frustrating one as Huddersfield missed out on promotion by three points. In the summer of 1982 he moved to Second Division Middlesbrough for a fee of £100,000. He spent two seasons at Ayresome Park making 79 appearances before moving on again this time to south coast side Portsmouth. Pompey finished 4th in both 1984–85 and 1985–86 missing out on promotion by goal difference and then three points before finally going up in 1986–87. However, with Portsmouth having financial problems he joined Bradford City in January 1988.

After two seasons at Bradford, Kennedy had short spells with Leicester City and Luton Town before joining his old Portsmouth manager Alan Ball at Stoke City for £250,000.[1] He made 39 appearances for Stoke in 1990–91 scoring three goals in a poor season which saw Stoke finish in their lowest ever league position of 14th in the third tier.[1] Under the management of Lou Macari in 1991–92 Kennedy played in 26 games and was released at the end of the season. He then went on to play a season each at Chesterfield and Wigan Athletic.[1]

International career

Kennedy earned his two international caps in the Iceland Triangular Tournament in May 1986. The competition held in Reykjavík, Iceland, with the Republic of Ireland and Czechoslovakia joining the hosts in a three team competition. Ireland beat Iceland 2–1 and Czechoslovakia 1–0 to win the trophy. Although Kennedy played well in both games, even hitting the post against Iceland with a great volley, he was never selected by Jack Charlton again. The reason being that the Manager was asked by the Czechs what he was going to do about Kennedy elbowing one of their players in the mouth when he visited their dressing room after the game "with his teeth all knocked". He never picked him again partly for this reason but also because in Tony Galvin and Kevin Sheedy he had two players who could do a better job.[5]

Honours

Portsmouth
Republic of Ireland

Career statistics

Club

Source:[6]

Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other[A] Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Halifax Town 1978–79 Fourth Division 30 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 30 0
1979–80 Fourth Division 46 4 6 1 2 0 0 0 52 5
Total 76 4 6 1 2 0 0 0 84 5
Huddersfield Town 1980–81 Third Division 42 2 4 0 2 0 0 0 48 2
1981–82 Third Division 39 7 4 0 4 0 0 0 47 7
Total 81 9 8 0 6 0 0 0 95 9
Middlesbrough 1982–83 Second Division 38 5 4 0 2 0 0 0 44 5
1983–84 Second Division 30 0 3 0 2 0 0 0 35 0
Total 68 5 7 0 4 0 0 0 79 5
Portsmouth 1984–85 Second Division 37 0 2 1 3 0 0 0 42 1
1985–86 Second Division 39 2 1 0 5 0 2 0 47 2
1986–87 Second Division 35 2 1 0 3 0 3 0 42 2
1987–88 First Division 18 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 18 0
Total 129 4 4 1 11 0 5 0 149 5
Bradford City 1987–88 Second Division 15 1 2 1 1 0 4 0 22 2
1988–89 Second Division 30 1 2 0 6 0 2 0 40 1
Total 45 2 4 1 7 0 6 0 62 3
Leicester City 1988–89 Second Division 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 0
Luton Town 1989–90 First Division 32 0 1 0 2 0 1 0 36 0
Stoke City 1990–91 Third Division 32 3 3 0 3 0 1 0 39 3
1991–92 Third Division 20 0 2 0 3 0 1 0 26 0
Total 52 3 5 0 6 0 2 0 65 3
Chesterfield 1992–93 Third Division 27 1 2 0 1 0 4 0 34 1
Wigan Athletic 1993–94 Third Division 17 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 18 1
Career Total 536 29 38 3 39 0 18 0 631 32
A. ^ The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the EFL Trophy, Football League play-offs, and Full Members Cup.

International

Source:[7]

National team Year Apps Goals
Republic of Ireland 1986 2 0
Total 2 0

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Matthews, Tony (1994). The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City. Lion Press. ISBN 0-9524151-0-0.
  2. ^ "Pompey Mourn Mick Kennedy". Portsmouth FC. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  3. ^ Dunk, Peter, ed. (1987). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987–88. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 290. ISBN 978-0-356-14354-5.
  4. ^ Lowe, Simon (2000). Stoke City The Modern Era – A Complete Record. Desert Island Books. ISBN 1-874287-39-2.
  5. ^ Jack Charlton -the Autobiography 1996 page 207-8
  6. ^ Mick Kennedy at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
  7. ^ Kennedy, Mick at National-Football-Teams.com

External links

Huddersfield Town A.F.C. Player of the Year
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