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Peter Kennedy

Name: Peter Henry James Kennedy
Born: 10 September 1973, Lisburn
Height: 5.10 ft
Weight: 11.11 st
Position: Midfielder/Left-Back
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Representative Honours: Northern Ireland: 20 Full Caps (1998-2004), 1 'B' Cap (1997); Irish League: 1 Under-21 Cap (1995).
Club Honours: (with Portadown) Irish League Champion 1995/96; Irish League Cup Winner 1995/96; Ulster Cup Winner 1995/96; (with Watford) Football League Division One Play-Off Winner 1998/99 (promoted); Football League Division Two Champion 1997/98.
Awards: Ulster Footballer of the Year 1996; NI Football Writers' Player of the Year 1996.
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Club Career:
Teams
Seasons
Signed
Fee
League
FA Cup
FL Cup
Other
Lisburn Youth
-
-
Youth
-
-
-
-
Portadown
-
-
Youth
0 (0)/ 0
-
-
-
Glentoran
-
1989
Youth
0 (0)/ 0
-
-
-
Glenavon
92/93-94/95
c/s-92
-
36 (3)/ 7
7(0)/ 3
5(0)/0
7(2)/3
Portadown
95/96
Aug-95
-
23 (0)/10
5(0)/ 4
5(0)/1
16(0)/3
Notts County
96/97
Aug-96
£100k
20 (2)/ 0
2(1)/ 1
1(0)/0
-
Watford
97/98-00/01
Aug-97
£130k
107 (7)/18
7(0)/ 2
9(0)/2
4(0)/0
Wigan Athletic
01/02-03/04
Jul-01
£300k
60 (5)/ 2
4(0)/ 0
6(0)/0
3(0)/0
Derby County
03/04
Oct-03
Loan
5 (0)/ 1
-
-
-
Peterborough U.
04/05-05/06
Jul-04
Free
25 (6)/ 2
1(1)/ 1
1(0)/0
-
Portadown
06/07-07/08
c/s-06
Free
*60 (-)/ 4
-
-
-
Banbridge Town
08/09
c/s-08
Trial
-
-
-
-
Ballymena U.
08/09
-
Free
3 (0)/ 0
-
-
1(0)/0
Donegal Celtic
09/10
Jul-09
Free
-
-
-
-
Kilmore Rec.
09/10
Apr-10
Free
-
-
-
-
TOTALS
-
£530k
339(23)/44
26(2)/11
27(0)/3
31(2)/6
..
* all games

Biography:
Peter Kennedy emerged as one of the brightest young stars on the Irish League scene in the mid-1990s. He stood out from the crowd at a very young age, playing in the Under-11 side when barely nine-years-old, and had early trials with Tottenham and Bournemouth. Following six years with Lisburn Youth he spent an unhappy six months with Portadown before signing with the Glentoran Colts where he picked up a Youth Cup winner's medal in 1991. He failed to make the step up at the Oval and signed for Glenavon in the summer of 1992.

His first season at Mourneview was spent mainly in the reserves, where he helped them finish third in the Irish League 'B' Division Section II, just two points behind the eventual winners, Glentoran (in fact, if Glenavon had won their final match at Omagh, the title would have been their's!).

Following another trial in the summer of 1993, this time with Blackburn, Kennedy returned to Mourneview where he finally established himself in the Glenavon first eleven. He, and Glenavon, had an outstanding season, finishing just two points off the Irish League title, and the 1994/95 season was again a successful one, all-be-it the club finished without a trophy (though they were runners-up in both the League and the Co. Antrim Shield). On a personal note however Kennedy picked up his first representative honour, playing for the Irish League Under-21 side against their FAI National League counterparts, in a 0-0 draw at Mourneview.

A suprise move in the summer of 1995 took Kennedy across Craigavon to Glenvaon's bitter rivals Portadown. At Shamrock Park his performances picked up further, as he scored 18 goals to help the club clinch a trio of trophies, the Irish League title, the Irish League Cup and the Ulster Cup. The summer of 1996 finally saw the move Kennedy had been waiting his whole career for, with Notts County stumping up a massive £100,000 for his signature.
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More to follow...
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After a decade playing in England, Kennedy returned to Portadown for the 2006/07 season. He was released by the Ports in June 2008 and after a short spell with Banbridge Town signed for Ballymena United. He managed just four matches for the Braidmen before announcing his retirement from playing in September 2008 to concentrate on obtaining his accountancy qualifications.

By July 2009 Kennedy felt that he had quit football too soon and joined Donegal Celtic.

Since quitting as a player Kennedy has managed Lisburn Rangers and Crewe United. In June 2018 he joined the coaching staff back at Glenavon.
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Northern Ireland Cap Details:
18-11-1998 Moldova....... H D 2-2 ECQ
27-03-1999 Germany....... H L 0-3 ECQ sub
18-08-1999 France........ H L 0-1 FR
04-09-1999 Turkey........ H L 0-3 ECQ
09-09-1999 Germany....... A L 0-4 ECQ
10-10-1999 Finland....... A L 1-4 ECQ
28-02-2001 Norway........ H L 0-4 FR
28-03-2001 Bulgaria...... A L 3-4 WCQ sub
06-06-2001 Czech Republic A L 1-3 WCQ sub
01-09-2001 Denmark....... A D 1-1 WCQ
05-09-2001 Iceland....... H W 3-0 WCQ
06-10-2001 Malta......... A W 1-0 WCQ
13-02-2002 Poland........ N L 1-4 FR
21-08-2002 Cyprus........ H D 0-0 FR
12-02-2003 Finland....... H L 0-1 FR
03-06-2003 Italy......... A L 0-2 FR
11-06-2003 Spain......... H D 0-0 ECQ
06-09-2003 Ukraine....... A D 0-0 ECQ
11-10-2003 Greece........ A L 0-1 ECQ
18-02-2004 Norway........ H L 1-4 FR
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Summary: 17(3)/0. Won 2, Drew 5, Lost 13.

Northern Ireland B Cap Details:
28-03-1997 Portugal...... H W 2-0 FR
11-02-1998 Rep of Ireland A W 1-0 FR

Summary: 2/0. Won 2, Drew 0, Lost 0.

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