Andrew Lynd Kennedy (1 September 1897 – December 1963) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player.

Career

Born in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

, Kennedy played as a youth for

Belfast Celtic Belfast Celtic Football Club was a football club. Founded in 1891 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, it was one of the most successful teams in Ireland until it withdrew permanently from the Irish League in 1949. The club left the league for polit ...

before joining

Glentoran Glentoran Football Club is a professional football club that plays in the NIFL Premiership. The club was founded in 1882. History Early history In 1914, Glentoran won the Vienna Cup, becoming the first United Kingdom team to win a European t ...

in 1915. He moved to England in 1920, joining

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

side

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building * ...

in 1920; he played a solitary

Division Three South The Third Division South of The Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to o ...

game for them before moving across the city to join

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

as a reserve full back in August 1922. Soon after joining Arsenal, Kennedy stepped up to the first team after Arthur Hutchins was dropped, and made his debut against

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

on 2 December 1922. He impressed enough that he played all but one of the Gunners' remaining games that season, and gained international recognition, winning two caps for

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

in their 1923

British Home Championship The British Home Championship * sco, Hame Internaitional Kemp * gd, Farpais lìg eadar-nàiseanta * cy, Pencampwriaeth y Pedair Gwlad, name=lang (historically known as the British International Championship or simply the International Champio ...

campaign. After injury wrecked his 1923–24 season – Kennedy missed the start of the season, and after returning was dropped from the side after Arsenal lost 6–1 to

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. The ...

– he played all but one of Arsenal's League matches the following season (as Arsenal narrowly avoided relegation). However, he did not find favour under

Herbert Chapman Herbert Chapman (19 January 1878 – 6 January 1934) was an English football player and manager. Though he had an undistinguished playing career, he went on to become one of the most influential and successful managers in the early 20th ...

, who first switched

Bob John Robert Frederick John (3 February 1899 – 17 July 1982) was a Welsh football player and coach. Born in Barry, John played for Barry Town and Caerphilly, before joining English club Arsenal, who signed him, against stiff competition, in January ...

back into defence, and then signed

Horace Cope Horace Cope (24 May 1899 – 4 October 1961) was an English footballer who played at left back. Cope spent six years at Arsenal after joining from Notts County for £3,125 in December 1926. He was a regular in his first two-and-a-half seasons a ...

during 1925–26 as a replacement for Kennedy. However, Cope was injured before Arsenal's first

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

, meaning Kennedy started the match, against

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

; however, a mistake by Dan Lewis meant Arsenal lost 1–0, and Kennedy only walked away with a runners-up medal. Kennedy only played two more matches for Arsenal, both of them heavy defeats (5–1 and 4–0). Displeased with his team's defence, Chapman had a clearout at Arsenal, and Kennedy was sold to Everton in January 1928. In all, Kennedy had played 129 matches for Arsenal. Everton won the First Division championship that season but Kennedy was only a reserve player that season. After a solitary League appearance for Everton, he moved on to

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they adop ...

that summer, playing there for two seasons until his retirement in 1930.

Death

He died in 1963, aged 66.

Honours

Arsenal *

runner-up: 1926–27

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, Andy 1897 births 1963 deaths Association footballers from Northern Ireland Pre-1950 IFA international footballers Association football fullbacks Belfast Celtic F.C. players Arsenal F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Everton F.C. players Glentoran F.C. players Tranmere Rovers F.C. players Association footballers from Belfast FA Cup Final players