Mark Kennedy (footballer, born 1976)

For other people named Mark Kennedy, see Mark Kennedy (disambiguation).

Mark Kennedy

Kennedy in 2010
Personal information
Full name	Mark John Kennedy [1]
Date of birth	(1976-05-15) 15 May 1976 (age 48)
Place of birth	Dublin, Republic of Ireland
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Position(s)	Left back, left winger
Youth career
	St.Mochta's
	Belvedere
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1992–1995	Millwall	43	(9)
1995–1998	Liverpool	16	(0)
1998	→ Queens Park Rangers (loan)	8	(2)
1998–1999	Wimbledon	21	(0)
1999–2001	Manchester City	66	(8)
2001–2006	Wolverhampton Wanderers	167	(12)
2006–2008	Crystal Palace	46	(1)
2008–2010	Cardiff City	66	(0)
2010–2012	Ipswich Town	33	(0)
Total		466	(32)
International career
1992	Republic of Ireland U17	1	(0)
1994–1996	Republic of Ireland U21	4	(4)
1995–2002	Republic of Ireland	34	(4)
Managerial career
2020	Macclesfield Town
2022–2023	Lincoln City
2024	Swindon Town
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Mark John Kennedy (born 15 May 1976) is an Irish football coach and former professional footballer and most recently the head coach of EFL League Two club Swindon Town.

As a player, he was a left back and left winger from 1992 to 2012. He notably featured in the Premier League with Liverpool, Wimbledon, Manchester City and Wolverhampton Wanderers, as well as in the Football League for Millwall, Queens Park Rangers, Crystal Palace, Cardiff City and Ipswich Town. He was capped 34 times by Ireland, scoring four goals.

Kennedy was head coach of Macclesfield Town in 2020, and was appointed assistant to head coach Lee Bowyer at Birmingham City in June 2021. Prior to this he has worked as a coach at Ipswich Town, Manchester City and Colchester United.

Club career

Millwall

Kennedy was born in Clonsilla, Dublin. He began his professional career at Millwall, making his senior debut on 24 April 1993 in a 1–0 win over Charlton, when still only 16. He developed over his three-year stay at The Old Den, and broke into the Republic of Ireland Under-21 side. He particularly gained attention for a powerful run and goal at Highbury that helped eliminate Arsenal from the FA Cup in 1995. ^[2]

Liverpool

Kennedy left to join Liverpool in March 1995 for an initial £1.5 million fee (potentially rising to £2.3 m), 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 £1.75 million, but he stayed for just one season with the club, scoring once against Bolton in the League Cup, ^[3] before returning to the north, this time to Manchester City, for £1.6 million, in 1999.

Manchester City

Kennedy 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 reins, 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.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Kennedy 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 to Selhurst Park on a free transfer to play under new manager Peter Taylor at Crystal Palace.

Crystal Palace

Kennedy spent the majority of the 2006–07 season in Palace's first team line-up, but largely disappointed fans, despite scoring against Derby County. ^[4] 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.

Cardiff City

Kennedy was signed by his former Wolves manager Dave Jones at Cardiff City on 10 July 2008. ^[5] With club stalwart Joe Ledley cemented in the left midfield role, Kennedy 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. However following his return, he remained as first choice left back for the majority of the season. The following season, he started the opening game of the season but injury meant he did not feature again until September during a 1–0 loss to Newcastle United where he remained on the bench, but he started the next game at Reading. He made his 400th career club start against Sheffield Wednesday on 26 September 2009. He made his 50th league Cardiff appearance on 5 December 2009, coming on as a substitute for injured Anthony Gerrard in a 1–0 win over Preston North End. ^[6]

Ipswich Town

On 27 July 2010, Kennedy joined Ipswich Town, managed by his former international team-mate Roy Keane, for a fee of £75,000. ^[7] He made his debut for Ipswich in a 3–1 away win over Middlesbrough on 7 August. He made 30 appearances during his first season at the club as Ipswich finished 13th in the Championship, while also helping the club to reach the semi-finals of the League Cup, starting in both legs as Ipswich lost 1–3 on aggregate following a 1–0 home win over Arsenal in the first leg at Portman Road. ^[8]

Kennedy featured less frequently during the following season, making only 7 appearances before retiring at the end of the 2011–12 season and joining the Ipswich Town coaching staff. ^[9]

International career

Kennedy has 34 caps for the Republic of Ireland, scoring four times. ^{[10] [11]} He made his international debut on 6 September 1995 in a 3–1 defeat in Austria, but never established himself as a regular player over seven years involved with the national side. During this time, Ireland did not play in the final tournaments of the World Cup or the European Championship. While on international duty, Kennedy was arrested in Dublin with teammate Phil Babb in August 2000 for public order offences and causing criminal damage to an off duty Garda officer's car. ^[12] This effectively ended his international career. Kennedy's final game for Ireland was a friendly in February 2002: he missed the 2002 FIFA World Cup Finals because of injury.

Managerial career

Following his retirement from playing, Kennedy began coaching with the Ipswich Town academy in 2012. He was appointed as the club's under-21's head coach in 2012. He managed the Ipswich under-21 side from 2012 to 2016 before leaving to take up a position coaching in Manchester City's academy. ^[13] Kennedy was a coach with Manchester City from 2016 to 2018, before being released as part of a restructuring process within Manchester City's academy. He also spent time coaching with Wolves' under-23 side in 2019. ^[14]

In January 2020, Kennedy was appointed head coach at Macclesfield Town, ^[15] He took charge of his first match in senior management away to Colchester United on 18 January. ^[16] Kennedy managed just 12 first-team games in a COVID-19 pandemic-shortened season, resigning on 12 August 2020 after rejecting the offer of a new contract following the club's relegation to the National League as a result of a points deduction for financial issues. ^[17]

In December 2020, Kennedy returned to the Ipswich Town academy to shadow the club's head of coaching and player development Bryan Klug in his role to gain more coaching experience. ^[18]

He was appointed assistant to head coach Lee Bowyer at Championship club Birmingham City in June 2021, ^[19] and left on 12 May 2022. ^[20]

The same day, he was appointed the head coach of EFL League One club Lincoln City on a four-year contract. ^[21] His first game in charge was a 1–1 draw at home to Exeter City on the opening day of the 2022–23 season. ^[22]

On 18 October 2023, he was dismissed by Lincoln City along with assistant manager Danny Butterfield. ^[23]

On May 29 2024 Kennedy was announced as the new head coach of Swindon Town on a 2-year contract. ^[24] After five months in charge, on 25 October he was sacked by a late night phone call. ^{[25] [26]}

Personal life

His brother Brendan was also a footballer, playing in the League of Ireland. Brendan is the Ireland under-18s and 19s goalkeeper coach and manager of Dunboyne AFC in the Leinster Senior League.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Millwall	1992–93	First Division	1	0	0	0	0	0	—		1	0
	1993–94	First Division	12	4	0	0	2	0	0	0	12	4
	1994–95	First Division	30	5	4	1	5	2	—		52	8
	Total		43	9	4	1	7	2	0	0	0	0
Liverpool	1994–95	Premier League	6	0	0	0	0	0	—		6	0
	1995–96 [27]	Premier League	4	0	0	0	1	0	1 [lower-alpha 1]	0	6	0
	1996–97 [28]	Premier League	5	0	1	0	1	0	1 [lower-alpha 2]	0	8	0
	1997–98 [29]	Premier League	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	Total		16	0	1	0	2	0	2	0	21	0
Queens Park Rangers (loan)	1997–98 [29]	First Division	8	2	0	0	0	0	—		8	2
Wimbledon	1997–98 [29]	Premier League	4	0	0	0	0	0	—		4	0
	1998–99 [30]	Premier League	17	0	2	0	5	1	—		24	1
	Total		21	0	2	0	5	1	0	0	28	1
Manchester City	1999–00 [31]	First Division	41	8	2	0	4	2	—		47	10
	2000–01 [32]	Premier League	25	0	0	0	5	1	—		30	1
	Total		66	8	2	0	9	3	0	0	77	11
Wolverhampton Wanderers	2001–02 [33]	First Division	35	5	1	0	1	0	1 [lower-alpha 3]	0	38	5
	2002–03 [34]	First Division	31	3	4	1	0	0	3 [lower-alpha 3]	1	38	5
	2003–04 [35]	Premier League	31	2	3	0	2	0	—		36	2
	2004–05 [36]	Championship	30	0	2	0	0	0	—		32	0
	2005–06 [37]	Championship	40	2	2	0	1	0	—		43	2
	Total		167	12	12	1	4	0	4	1	187	14
Crystal Palace	2006–07 [38]	Championship	38	1	2	0	0	0	—		40	1
	2007–08 [39]	Championship	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	8	0
	Total		46	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	48	1
Cardiff City	2008–09 [40]	Championship	36	0	3	0	1	0	—		40	0
	2009–10 [41]	Championship	30	0	3	0	0	0	3 [lower-alpha 4]	0	36	0
	Total		66	0	6	0	1	0	3	0	76	0
Ipswich Town	2010–11 [8]	Championship	26	0	1	0	3	0	—		30	0
	2011–12 [42]	Championship	7	0	0	0	0	0	—		7	0
	Total		33	0	1	0	3	0	0	0	37	0
Career total			466	32	30	2	31	6	9	1	536	41

1. Appearance in UEFA Cup
2. Appearance in UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
3. Appearance(s) in First Division play-offs
4. Appearances in Championship play-offs

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year ^[43]

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Republic of Ireland	1995	3	0
	1996	7	0
	1997	7	1
	1998	2	0
	1999	6	2
	2000	5	1
	2001	3	0
	2002	1	0
Total		34	4

Scores and results list Republic of Ireland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kennedy goal. ^[44]

List of international goals scored by Mark Kennedy

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	6 September 1997	Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík, Iceland	Iceland	4–2	4–2	1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
2	28 April 1999	Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Ireland	Sweden	2–0	2–0	Friendly
3	1 September 1999	Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Republic of Ireland	FR Yugoslavia	2–1	2–1	UEFA Euro 2000 qualification
4	30 May 2000	Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Republic of Ireland	Scotland	1–1	1–2	Friendly

Managerial statistics

As of match played 22 October 2024

Managerial record by team and tenure

Team	From	To	Record
			P	W	D	L	Win %
Macclesfield Town	16 January 2020	12 August 2020	12	1	3	8	008.3
Lincoln City	12 May 2022	18 October 2023	73	25	27	21	034.2
Swindon Town	29 May 2024	25 October 2024	16	3	5	8	018.8
Total			101	29	35	37	028.7

Honours

Manchester City

• Football League First Division runner-up: 1999–2000 ^[45]

Wolverhampton Wanderers

• Football League First Division play-offs: 2003 ^[46]

Individual

• PFA Team of the Year: 1999–2000 First Division, ^[47] 2001–02 First Division ^[48]

References

1. "List of Players under Written Contract Whose Registrations have been Cancelled by Mutual Consent Between 01/05/2012 and 31/05/2012". The Football Association. Archived from the original on 28 June 2012. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
2. Haylett, Trevor (18 January 1995). "Millwall deepen Arsenal's misery". The Independent . London. Retrieved 6 November 2009.
3. Hadfield, Dave (10 November 1998). "Kennedy creativity destroys Bolton". The Independent . London. Retrieved 6 November 2009.
4. Mercer, Nathan (29 April 2007). "Crystal Palace 2–0 Derby". BBC . Retrieved 6 November 2009.
5. "Cardiff sign Kennedy from Palace" BBC Sport Retrieved on 1 June 2009
6. "Cardiff 1–0 PNE" BBC Sport Retrieved on 5 December 2009
7. "Mark Kennedy completes Ipswich move". WalesOnline. 28 July 2010. Archived from the original on 22 October 2013. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
8. "Games played by Mark Kennedy in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
9. "Kennedy Coaching at Town". TWTD. 1 March 2012. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
10. "Mark Kennedy profile" LFChistory.net Retrieved on 19 October 2013
11. "Ireland record international players" rsssf.org Retrieved on 1 June 2009
12. Samantha McCaughren (14 November 2000). "Soccer Stars Get Probation Act". Independent Newspaper. Retrieved 10 August 2010.
13. "U21s Coach Kennedy Leaves Town to Join Manchester City". TWTD. 6 July 2016. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
14. "Wolves make James Collins Under-23s boss as Mark Kennedy leaves". Express & Star. 13 December 2019. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
15. "Mark Kennedy: Macclesfield Town name ex-Republic of Ireland winger as head coach". BBC Sport. BBC. 16 January 2020. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
16. "Colchester United 2 – 1 Macclesfield Town". BBC Sport. 18 January 2020. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
17. "Macclesfield Town: Mark Kennedy & Danny Butterfield leave after rejecting contract offers". BBC Sport. 12 August 2020. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
18. "Kennedy Back at Town Shadowing Klug". TWTD. 7 December 2020. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
19. "Football restructure". Birmingham City F.C. 25 June 2021. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
20. "Mark Kennedy departs Blues". Birmingham City F.C. 12 May 2022. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
21. "Kennedy appointed Imps head coach". Lincoln City F.C. 12 May 2022. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
22. "Kennedy thankful for Imps support". Lincoln City F.C. 31 July 2022. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
23. "Kennedy and Butterfield leave Imps". Lincoln City F.C. 18 October 2023. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
24. "Swindon Town appoint Mark Kennedy as Head Coach". swindon Town F.C. 29 May 2024. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
25. "Favourite Emerges For Vacant Swindon Town Job - The Deck". thedeck.news. 25 October 2024. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
26. "Mark Kennedy: Swindon Town sack head coach after poor run". BBC Sport. 25 October 2024. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
27. "Games played by Mark Kennedy in 1995/1996". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
28. "Games played by Mark Kennedy in 1996/1997". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
29. "Games played by Mark Kennedy in 1997/1998". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
30. "Games played by Mark Kennedy in 1998/1999". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
31. "Games played by Mark Kennedy in 1999/2000". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
32. "Games played by Mark Kennedy in 2000/2001". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
33. "Games played by Mark Kennedy in 2001/2002". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
34. "Games played by Mark Kennedy in 2002/2003". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
35. "Games played by Mark Kennedy in 2003/2004". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
36. "Games played by Mark Kennedy in 2004/2005". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
37. "Games played by Mark Kennedy in 2005/2006". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
38. "Games played by Mark Kennedy in 2006/2007". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
39. "Games played by Mark Kennedy in 2007/2008". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
40. "Games played by Mark Kennedy in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
41. "Games played by Mark Kennedy in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
42. "Games played by Mark Kennedy in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
43. Mark Kennedy at National-Football-Teams.com
44. "M. Kennedy". Soccerway. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
45. "City ride luck on return". BBC News. 7 May 2000. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
46. "Wolves back in big time". BBC Sport. BBC. 26 May 2003. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
47. "Keane claims award double". BBC News. 30 April 2000. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
48. "PFA teams send Hatters mad". The Guardian. London. 15 April 2002. Retrieved 25 April 2018.

External links

• Mark Kennedy player profile at cpfc.co.uk
• Mark Kennedy player profile at wolves.co.uk
• Mark Kennedy at Soccerbase
• Photos and stats at sporting-heroes.net
• Mark Kennedy Millwall Stats
• Mark Kennedy arrest