Willie Kennedy

William Kennedy was a Republic of Ireland international footballer who played as a midfielder.

Willie Kennedy
Personal information
Full name William Kennedy
Position(s) midfielder
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1931-1941 St James Gate (0)
1941-1944 Shelbourne (14)
1944-1945 Brideville (5)
National team
1932–34 Republic of Ireland 3[1] (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

St James Gate

Kennedy's first appearances as a League of Ireland player were with Crumlin outfit St Jame's Gate, with whom he played for ten years. Gate were the team of St James's Gate Brewery who brew Guinness stout, among other beers.

Shelbourne

In 1941, Kennedy moved across South Dublin to play for League rivals Shelbourne, scoring six goals in his debut season as Shels finished in a respectable 3rd place.[2] He would stay for three years with the Reds, scoring 14 goals and helping them to a League and Shield double in the 1943–44 season. On 16 April 1944, he played as lost the FAI Cup Final, 3–2, against Shamrock Rovers[3] in front of 34,000 spectators at Dalymount Park. This loss cost the club a valuable treble that season.

Brideville

In 1944, now in his 13th season as a League player, Kennedy moved to Liberties based club, Brideville.[4] At the end of the 1942–43 season, Brideville had failed to get re-elected to the League. However they returned at the beginning of Kennedy's first season with the club, 1944–45, when they ironically replaced his old side St James's Gate who had dropped out of the League. Continuing his fine goal-scoring form, Kennedy notched five league goals that season, finishing as the club's top scorer.[5] They finished second-last in the League but their return lasted just one season. They failed to gain re-election for the following season and were replaced by Waterford.[6][7][8]

International

At international level, Kennedy was capped three times for the Irish Free State at senior level. He made his debut versus Holland on 8 May 1932 .[1]

His second cap came at Dalymount Park on 24 February 25, 1934, in Ireland's historic first World Cup qualifying tie, against Belgium. Kennedy was Gate's sole representative in the team that day as 28,000 fans witnessed an entertaining 4–4 draw.[9]

Honours

Club

St James Gate

Shelbourne

References
  1. "Ireland's International Players". fai.ie.
  2. "League of Ireland Goalscorers 1941-42" (PDF). Historical Lineups. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
  3. "Shelbourne's FAI Cup Final History". Planet Shels. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
  4. "League of Ireland Goalscorers 1944-45" (PDF). Historical Lineups. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
  5. "League of Ireland Goalscorers 1944-45" (PDF). Historical Lineups. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
  6. League of Ireland Rsssf Archived February 21, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  7. FAI Cup Rsssf Archived May 25, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
  8. Paul Doolan, Robert Goggins (1993). The Hoops. Gill & MacmillanLtd. ISBN 0-7171-2121-6.
  9. "FAI History, Chapter 3 - Paddy Moore's record". Football Association of Ireland. 4 April 2018. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
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