Mick Kennedy

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]
Playing position 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 53 (3)
1992–1993 Chesterfield 27 (1)
1993–1994 Wigan Athletic 17 (1)
Total 536 (29)
National team
1986 Republic of Ireland 2 (0)
1982–1985 Republic of Ireland U-21 4 (2)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


Michael Francis Martin "Mick" Kennedy (born 9 April 1961) is a former Irish footballer who played in the Football League for Halifax Town, Huddersfield Town, Portsmouth, Bradford City, Leicester City, Luton Town, Chesterfield and Wigan Athletic. He also 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][2]

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 an international competition 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 that could do a better job.[3]

Honours

Portsmouth
Republic of Ireland

Career statistics

Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other[A] Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Halifax Town 1978–79 Fourth Division 300000000300
1979–80 Fourth Division 464612000525
Total 764612000845
Huddersfield Town 1980–81 Third Division 422402000482
1981–82 Third Division 397404000477
Total 819806000959
Middlesbrough 1982–83 Second Division 385402000445
1983–84 Second Division 300302000350
Total 685704000795
Portsmouth 1984–85 Second Division 370213000421
1985–86 Second Division 392105020472
1986–87 Second Division 352103030422
1987–88 First Division 180000000180
Total 129441110501495
Bradford City 1987–88 Second Division 151211040222
1988–89 Second Division 301206020401
Total 452417060623
Leicester City 1988–89 Second Division 9000000090
Total 9000000090
Luton Town 1989–90 First Division 320102010360
Total 320102010340
Stoke City 1990–91 Third Division 323303010393
1991–92 Third Division 200203010260
Total 523506020653
Chesterfield 1992–93 Third Division 271201040341
Total 271201040341
Wigan Athletic 1993–94 Third Division 171100000181
Total 171100000181
Career Total 5362938339018063132
A. ^ The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the Football League Trophy, Football League play-offs, and Full Members Cup.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Matthews, Tony (1994). The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City. Lion Press. ISBN 0-9524151-0-0.
  2. ↑ Lowe, Simon (2000). Stoke City The Modern Era – A Complete Record. Desert Island Books. ISBN 1-874287-39-2.
  3. ↑ Jack Charlton -the Autobiography 1996 page 207-8
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