Typical of the man, John Kennedy took a back seat at his own testimonial match leaving the stage to Henrik Larsson as 55,000 supporters lapped up the legends challenge match between Celtic and Manchester United in aid of Oxfam’s East Africa Appeal Famine.
It’s four years since Kennedy last played a competitive match for Celtic after finally giving in to injury following repeated knee operations after suffering a horrendous injury on his Scotland debut against Romania.
His gesture to donate all of the gate receipts from his testimonial match to Oxfam makes him a giant amongst footballers with the quietly spoken defender from Cleland keeping a low profile through the night’s celebrations that saw Westlife’s Nicky Byrne and Hollywood star Gerard Butler join the legends of Seville in a star studded Celtic side.
“It was a tremendous turnout from fans, players and celebrities which made it a good night,” Kennedy said afterwards. “ The book has been closed for a long time on my career but I enjoyed being out on the park amongst friends.
“Obviously the Barcelona game is the one that lots of people remember about me. There are two other matches that are close to my heart and that was my debut at home against Motherwell and winning the league at Kilmarnock which was my first game back from injury.
“Those two matches stick out but every time you pull on the jersey in front of those fans is special.
“My testimonial year has dragged on a bit with cancellations so it was good to finally get the game on and it was for a good cause.”
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Since being forced to retire from the game Kennedy has been working in a scouting role for Celtic but is now managing the u-19 side alongside Tommy McIntyre.
The youth season starts away to Hibs on Saturday followed by a trip to face Olympique Marseilles in the Next Gen Series which provides youith players with a Champions League equivalent.
Barcelona will visit Celtic Park on August 31 with Kennedy excited about a new chapter opening in his career.
He added: “Stevie Frail has moved up to the development squad and I’m working full-time with the u-19s and looking forward to the season.
“We’ve got Hibs away on Saturday then it’s Marseilles in the youth’s Champions League. This will be a big season for the players, this competition will be a big opportunity to get some good European experience.
“They’ll be testing themselves against the best sides in Europe and that’s something that we’re all looking forward to.”
CLICK HERE for Henrik Larsson on Lennon and Lambert
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Hope he turns into a top coach,deserves it…hail hail.
Truly generous act from a guy who never made millions from the game even though he was destined to be Celtic Captain. Good luck big man hope you are a top coach and manage the famous Glasgow Celtic in a few years.
Hail Hail
A big HAIL ! HAIL ! to everyone that went to the game last night, a brilliant turn-out by the worlds best supporters.
JK’s generosity is quite incredible in the times we’re living in. I hope all the greedy bastards running the country- bankers, billionaires, and politicians- were embarrassed by it. Although, I expect that lot don’t do embarrassment.