George William Kennedy (12 March 1882 – 16 November 1917) was a Scottish footballer. He played at

left half A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

or centre half.

Career

He began his career in his native

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; sco, Dumfries; from gd, Dùn Phris ) is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is located near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth about by road from the ...

with Maxwelltown Volunteers. He then made 45 appearances over two seasons playing for Lincoln City, making the move along with

Norrie Fairgray Norman Murray Fairgray (28 October 1880 – 1968) was a Scottish professional footballer who played mainly as an outside left for Maxwelltown Volunteers, Kilmarnock, Lincoln City, Chelsea, Motherwell George Nisbet George Nisbet () was a professional footballer who played 104 games for Lincoln City, including 62 appearances in the Football League. He played as a centre half or left half. Playing career Nisbet played for Maxwelltown Volunteers in Scotla ...

. Under David Calderhead, Lincoln pulled off an FA Cup upset when a goal by Fairgray knocked out Chelsea 1–0 in a replay. Calderhead became Chelsea manager soon after and took Fairgray with him. Kennedy followed a year later. Kennedy spent the years in the lead up to World War I playing for another team in West London, then- Southern League club,

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

. George left

at the end of the 1912–13 season, returning to

for the following season.

Personal life

George Kennedy emigrated to Canada in June 1914. Sailing from Glasgow to Montreal on board the .

War service

Private 418239 G.W. Kennedy enlisted in the 42nd Battalion (Royal Highlanders Regiment) of the Canadian Infantry in March 1915 and was sent to France with the

Canadian Expeditionary Force The Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) was the expeditionary field force of Canada during the First World War. It was formed following Britain’s declaration of war on Germany on 15 August 1914, with an initial strength of one infantry division ...

(CEF). He would subsequently be awarded both the Military Medal and Distinguished Conduct Medal for gallantry, and was also

Mentioned in Despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

. Having risen to the rank of Company Sergeant Major (CSM), Kennedy was wounded during the Third Battle of Ypres and subsequently died from his injuries on 16 November 1917. He was 35 years old. CSM 418239 G. Kennedy is now buried at Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, located 12 km west of Ypres close to the town of Poperinge.

Career statistics

References

1882 births 1917 deaths Footballers from Dumfries Scottish men's footballers Men's association football wing halves Lincoln City F.C. players Chelsea F.C. players Brentford F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players Place of death missing Canadian Expeditionary Force soldiers Canadian military personnel killed in World War I Scottish emigrants to Canada Canadian recipients of the Distinguished Conduct Medal Canadian recipients of the Military Medal Burials at Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery Military personnel from Dumfries and Galloway {{Scotland-footy-midfielder-1880s-stub