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.
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. 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. 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.
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.Jack Charlton -the Autobiography 1996 page 207-8
Honours Portsmouth Football League Second Division runner-up: 1986–87
Republic of Ireland Iceland Triangular Tournament: 1986
Career statistics Club Source:
+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueFA CupLeague CupOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsHalifax Town1978–79Fourth Division3000000003001979–80Fourth Division464612000525Total764612000845Huddersfield Town1980–81Third Division4224020004821981–82Third Division397404000477Total819806000959Middlesbrough 1982–83Second Division3854020004451983–84Second Division300302000350Total685704000795Portsmouth1984–85Second Division3702130004211985–86Second Division3921050204721986–87Second Division3521030304221987–88First Division180000000180Total129441110501495Bradford City1987–88Second Division1512110402221988–89Second Division301206020401Total452417060623Leicester City1988–89Second Division9000000090Luton Town1989–90First Division320102010360Stoke City1990–91Third Division3233030103931991–92Third Division200203010260Total523506020653Chesterfield1992–93Third Division271201040341Wigan Athletic1993–94Third Division171100000181Career Total5362938339018063132
A. The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the EFL Trophy, Football League play-offs, and Full Members Cup.
International Source:
National teamYearAppsGoalsRepublic of Ireland198620Total20
References
External links