Mark Kennedy (footballer)
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| Mark Kennedy | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | May 15, 1976 | |
| Place of birth | Dublin, Republic of Ireland | |
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | |
| Playing position | Left winger/Left back | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Cardiff City | |
| Number | 21 | |
| Youth career | ||
| Home Farm Belvedere |
||
| Senior career1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1992–1995 1995–1998 1998 1998–1999 1999–2001 2001–2005 2006–2008 2008– |
Millwall Liverpool → Queens Park Rangers (loan) Wimbledon Manchester City Wolverhampton Wanderers Crystal Palace Cardiff City |
43 (9) 16 (0) 8 (2) 21 (0) 66 (8) 167 (12) 46 (1) 36 (0) |
| National team | ||
| 1994–1995 1995–2002 |
Republic of Ireland U21 Republic of Ireland |
4 (0) 34 (4) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Mark Kennedy (born 15 May, 1976 in Clonsilla, Dublin) is an Irish footballer who plays as a left winger or a left back. He is currently signed to Cardiff City in the Football League Championship.
[edit] Career
Kennedy began his professional career at Millwall, making his senior debut on 24 April 1992 in a 1-0 win over Charlton. He developed over his three year stay at The Den, and broke into the Republic of Ireland Under-21 side. He particularly gained attention for a powerful run and goal at Highbury that eliminated Arsenal from the FA Cup in 1995.
He eventually left to join Liverpool in March 1995 for an initial £1.5million fee (potentially rising to £2.3m), making him then the most expensive teenage footballer in British history.
However, opportunities at Anfield were scarce, and he managed just 18 appearances over three seasons, which also saw him loaned to Queens Park Rangers to gain first team action. He found a permanent route to regular football when he moved back to the capital with Wimbledon in 1998, for £1.75million, but he stayed for just one season with the "Dons" before returning to the north, this time to Manchester City, for £1.6million, in 1999.
He won promotion to the Premier League with Manchester City in his first season, but the following year saw the club relegated and manager Joe Royle sacked. When Kevin Keegan took the reigns, he sought to rebuild the squad and decided Kennedy was not part of his plans, selling him to fellow second flight club Wolverhampton Wanderers for £2 million.
He looked set for another promotion in his first season at Molineux, but a groin tear ruled him out of the run-in and the team dropped into the play-off zone in his absence, where they lost to Norwich. However, the following season saw them achieve the aim of promotion, with Kennedy scoring the opening goal in their 3-0 Division One Play-off final win over Sheffield United.
The Midlands club were unable to remain in the top flight beyond a solitary season though, and soon found themselves with a new manager, with Glenn Hoddle replacing Dave Jones in late 2004. Hoddle preferred to play Kennedy in a more restrained left midfield role, rather than his original position on the wing.
With Hoddle departing in Summer 2006, so did Kennedy, after refusing the terms of a reduced contract, he moved back to Selhurst Park on a free transfer to play under new manager Peter Taylor at Crystal Palace.
Kennedy spent the majority of the 2006/07 season in Palace's first team line-up, but largely disappointed fans. Early in the following season Taylor was replaced by Neil Warnock, and Kennedy hardly featured for the Eagles after that, before being released at the end of that campaign.
He was signed by his former Wolves manager Dave Jones at Cardiff City on 10 July 2008.[1] With club stalwart Joe Ledley cemented in the left midfield role, Kennedy's started the season at left-back in place of the injured Tony Capaldi but an injury to Kennedy himself meant he missed around half of the opening two months.
Kennedy has 34 caps for the Republic of Ireland, scoring four times.[2][3] He made his international debut on 6 September 1995 in a 1-3 defeat in Austria, but never established himself as a regular player over seven years involved with the national side.
His brother Brendan Kennedy played in the Eircom League for a number of years for clubs including Shamrock Rovers and Kildare County.
[edit] References
- ^ "Cardiff sign Kennedy from Palace" BBC Sport Retrieved on 1 June, 2009
- ^ "Mark Kennedy profile" LFChistory.net Retrieved on 1 June, 2009
- ^ "Ireland record international players" rsssf.com Retrieved on 1 June, 2009
[edit] External links
- Mark Kennedy player profile at cpfc.co.uk
- Mark Kennedy player profile at wolves.co.uk
- Mark Kennedy career stats at Soccerbase
- Photos and stats at sporting-heroes.net
- Mark Kennedy Millwall Stats
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