Fred Keenor: The Man Who Never Gave Up

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Fred Keenor, Cardiff City's FA Cup winning captain of 1927, led a Wales team which was primarily made up of either lower league or Welsh league players. When the rule came in in 1930 it hit the Welsh team especially very hard," said Emrys, who will be in Aarhus for Wales' game on Sunday.

Meanwhile, to tie in with the weekend’s Six Nations rugby, we are today focusing on some of the city’s greatest ever rugby heroes. Fred Keenor: School plaque for FA Cup winner". BBC News. 12 November 2013. Archived from the original on 26 February 2019 . Retrieved 25 February 2019.We wanted to honour his memory with every penny raised from the single going towards the statue. In these days of modern footballers, here was a man who lived out his life in modest means and was dearly loved by the people.” Following his return to service, Keenor was stationed in Chatham, Kent, as a physical training instructor for the 5th Reserve Brigade. He was later promoted to the rank of Sergeant and was awarded the Victory Medal, the 1914-15 Star and the British War Medal for his service during the War. Between 1915 and 1919, Keenor appeared as a guest for Brentford in the London Combination. During the 1918-19 season, the side won the League title with Keenor making 19 guest appearances. Keenor first appeared for his country when he featured for Wales in two unofficial Victory internationals in 1919. But he almost missed out on Cardiff's big day as he requested a transfer in the February after being dropped from the team but he rejected a move to Division Three South side Bristol Rovers who were the only club to bid for the defender. As a consequence the original squad, including Tottenham midfielder Christian Eriksen and Kasper Schmeichel of Leicester City, will now be available to face Wales. I think it would be fitting – he’s the player that lifted the cup out of English hands. Me and the club would be more than happy to support this.”

Unbeknownst to Fred, the Bluebirds were soon to build one of their most successful sides, culminating in FA Cup victory at Wembley. City went from strength to strength in the early 1920s, rising to the First Division of the Football League and missing out on the league title by the barest of margins in 1923/24.The original line-up of The Stand included Stereophonics’ drummer Stuart Cable, who was instrumental in the group’s plans, until his untimely death in June 2010. Cardiff-based James created the tributes to comedian Tommy Cooper in Caerphilly and the full-size bronze statue of Merthyr Tydfil’s boxing legend, Johnny Owen.

Cup Winners Mobbed". Western Morning News. No.20932. 26 April 1927. p.7 . Retrieved 9 August 2016– via British Newspaper Archive. Fans believe the man who became the first and only skipper from a non-English club to lift the famous trophy should be honoured with a permanent memorial 82 years after he held the silverware aloft at Wembley. A match report on Keenor from Athletic News following a victory over Brighton & Hove Albion in 1914. [18]The Roath boy was one of the three-quarters of a million men injured in the bloodiest battle in the history of warfare, suffering shoulder and knee injuries. When I could see the enthusiasm being shown for the statue and how much feeling there was for Fred I thought to myself there have been enough books written about Fred’s football career, what about the man?” said Graham. Mr McEvoy, a Bluebirds fan himself, said: “It’s a great idea. The council’s working closely with the club on a number of ideas.

Following his release from Cardiff City, he considered retiring from the game but eventually signed for Third Division North side Crewe Alexandra. Despite being 37 years old, Keenor played a pivotal part in the club’s sixth placed finish during the 1931-32 season. This was the joint highest finish that the club had ever achieved in the Football League, and only the second time they had finished in the top ten in the previous nine seasons. However, despite a strong season, he was disappointed that the club was unable to achieve promotion as he described the squad as having the “nucleus of a very good side”. They recorded several strong results, including defeating eventual Division Three (North) champions Lincoln City 8-0. Nine months of trawling through birth and death certificates and interviewing residents of Fred’s former home in the village of Lamberhurst, Kent, have also revealed Fred, a devoted family man, endured the loss of two children. Keenor's former teacher Riden invited him to attend a trial at Cardiff City in 1912 after spotting him playing local amateur football for Cardiff-based side Roath Wednesday. Keenor later said that he "did not think twice about it". He was impressive enough during a trial match to be offered an amateur contract with the club at the age of 17. [10] He joined Cardiff City as the club was looking to establish itself as a professional football team having joined the newly formed Second Division of the Southern Football League two years earlier. [11] The club's amateur side competed in the Western Football League and Keenor appeared several times in games. A loss to Camerton during a Western League fixture left a lasting impression on him after an over-confident Cardiff side suffered an upset, losing 3–1 in a match they were widely expected to win. [12] Keenor often spoke of using the defeat as motivation in later stages of his career, remarking, "In subsequent seasons I always thought of that game when we were supposed to be on a 'good thing'. It has a moral which I pass on to every young footballer". [13] There were rumours that when Fred played for Cardiff City he liked his drink. People said he would have a couple of drinks before he went on the pitch, but that wasn’t true.Devine, Darren (16 November 2009). "Welsh football legend Keenor finally gets new headstone". WalesOnline. Media Wales. Archived from the original on 16 August 2016 . Retrieved 8 August 2016. a b c d e f g "Fred Keenor statue unveiled by Cardiff City". BBC News. 10 November 2012. Archived from the original on 18 July 2016 . Retrieved 9 August 2016. Keenor is considered to be one of Cardiff City’s all time great players and was inducted into the Welsh Sports Hall of Fame. On 15th November 2007, a petition to the Cardiff Civic Authorities was begun to bestow a tribute upon both Keenor, and the 1927 FA Cup squad he captained. On 4th December 2009, the road approaching Cardiff City Stadium was named Fred Keenor Road. With ‘I’ll Be There’ recorded and a record company on board, the decision was then made that all monies raised would go towards the Fred Keenor Fund, the charitable campaign set up the same year by the Cardiff City Supporters Trust to raise funds to create a statue of the legendary Cardiff City captain, who fought in the First World War. The statue of City’s cup winning captain, Fred Keenor. Photo by Jon Candy