John Kennedy opens up on career-ending injury and road to Celtic assistant manager…
John Kennedy has opened up on his career-ending injury and how that ultimately led him on the road to being Celtic’s assistant manager for many years. The big defender was a promising centre-back at the turn of the millennium and really began to show promise when Martin O’Neill introduced him to the Hoops starting line-up.
John Kennedy starred in the Nou Camp for Celtic in 2004
He was a hugely talented player and showed his class in a UEFA Cup tie against Barcelona in the Nou Camp back in 2004, when Celtic drew 0-0 to put us into the quarter-finals, thanks to a superb Alan Thompson volley in the first-leg at Parkhead, where we triumphed 1-0. That night in Catalonia, Kennedy put in an inspired performance alongside teammate David Marshall, who played the game of a lifetime to thwart Ronaldinho and Co.
John Kennedy suffered a life-changing injury playing in a friendly match for Scotland
Not long after that though, the assistant manager suffered a life-changing injury during international duty with Scotland. That challenge which was sustained against Romania in a friendly match would go on to have an incomprehensible affect on John’s life, as he would would never be the same again as a footballer. Recalling that dark period in his life recently with Podium Analytics, he revealed: “There was a moment the day after my injury that I’ll never forget. I arrived at Celtic Park to be assessed by our club doctor, Roddy Macdonald. At this point, nobody at Celtic knew much.
“They’d just seen the TV footage, knew there’d been an injury and that there could be damage to the knee. Roddy unstrapped the splint. That was my first real look at the knee. It was absolutely huge. I just remember Roddy picking my leg up and just slowly laying it back down again.
“This injury you don’t really get in football. This is like a car crash.”
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