John Kennedy (Scottish footballer)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| John Kennedy | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | John Kennedy | |
| Date of birth | 18 August 1983 | |
| Place of birth | Bellshill, Scotland | |
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | |
| Playing position | Defender | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Celtic | |
| Number | 41 | |
| Senior career1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1999– 2008 |
Celtic → Norwich City (loan) |
28 (1) 16 (2) |
| National team2 | ||
| 2002–2004 2004 |
Scotland U-21s Scotland |
15 (1) 1 (0) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
John Kennedy (born 18 August 1983 in Bellshill, Scotland) is a Scottish professional football player currently playing for Celtic. He is a defender and is also a Scotland international. 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. Kennedy is currently Celtic's joint longest serving player along with captain Stephen McManus, with 8 years at the club.
Contents |
[edit] Career
[edit] Celtic
Kennedy came through Celtic's youth system and signed a professional contract on the same day as fellow defender Stephen McManus. He made his first-team debut during the 1999/00 season but it wasn't until the 2003/04 season that he really made his name. 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.
He suffered a serious knee ligament injury on his international debut against Romania in March 2004, when Romanian striker Ionel Ganea made a challenge on him, which kept him out of the first team for three years, effectively ruining the promising young players career in professional football. The SFA agreed to compensate the club with respect to the player's wages following his injury. In late 2006 Kennedy resumed training and was named as a substitute for Celtic's Champions League match against A.C. Milan on 20 February 2007.
He started his comeback against Kilmarnock on 22 April 2007, helping Celtic clinch the title. He played the full 90 minutes, but Shunsuke Nakamura stole the headlines, scoring in the final minute with a free-kick. Four days later, on 26 April, he signed a new three-year contract with the club.[1]
On 28 November the same year, however, playing in the Champions League against Shakhtar Donetsk, he was stretchered off after twisting his knee landing after an aerial challenge. The initial diagnosis was that he sustained damage to his lateral meniscus and the posterior lateral complex of the same knee he'd previously injured, ruling him out for up to 3 months.[2]
On 14 July 2008, it was rumoured that Kennedy had joined Motherwell on a six month loan deal ending in December[3], though this was quashed by Celtic later the same day[4]. He did, however, meet up with the Motherwell squad in Austria, on trial. However it was rumoured that Kennedy was in talks with Norwich City and Preston North End over a possible loan move.
[edit] Norwich City
On 27 July 2008, it was confirmed that Kennedy would be joining Norwich City on loan until January.[5] He made his Norwich debut in a 2–0 defeat to Coventry City at the Ricoh Arena on 9 August 2008. Kennedy scored his first Norwich goal in the 3–1 defeat at Derby County on 28 October 2008. Kennedy returned to Celtic after further damaging his troubled knee in December 2008.
[edit] References
- ^ Kennedy signs new Celtic contract - BBC Sport
- ^ John Kennedy Injury update - Celtic FC
- ^ Celtic duo poised for Well switch
- ^ No loan agreement for Kennedy Celtic FC
- ^ Norwich win loan race for Kennedy - BBC Sport
[edit] External links
- John Kennedy career stats at Soccerbase
- "Kennedy is one step nearer to Celtic return" by Martin Greig, The Herald, May 9, 2006, retrieved June 3, 2006
|
|||||
 |
This football article related to a defender from Scotland is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
