MATTY KENNEDY

Full Name: Matthew Kennedy

Born: 01 November 1994

Came from: Cardiff City   Went to: Cardiff City

First game: 04 February 2017   Last game: 06 May 2017

Appearances: 17 (17/0)   Goals: 5

Widely reported as born in Irvine in North Ayrshire, Kennedy was actually born in Belfast, his birthplace confirmed by Kilmarnock's communications team after an enquiry by Greens on Screen in December 2024. He grew up going to matches at Ibrox with his Rangers-supporting father, and played for a local boys' club before being offered the chance to train at Rangers, Celtic or Kilmarnock. He chose to join Killie because he felt the club suited his style of play and it was closer to home for training purposes.

Kennedy progressed through the Kilmarnock ranks and was an unused substitute on a number of occasions whilst still 16. His first senior game came as a substitute just after his 17th birthday, and his full debut followed six weeks later, in January 2012.

He played 14 times for Kilmarnock before Everton paid £250,000 for him in November 2012. He played for the youth and under-21 teams whilst at Goodison, but never managed to make the step up to a first team selection. Kennedy also had loan spells with Tranmere Rovers (8 games, 0 goals), MK Dons (7,1) and Hibernian (16,1) whilst with the Toffees, before joining Cardiff at the end of the January 2015 transfer window, signing a three-and-a-half-year contract.

Kennedy's debut for Cardiff came as a starter in a Championship match a few weeks later, when he was named the sponsors' man of the match. In the second half of the following season he was loaned to Port Vale (12 games).

Kennedy joined the Pilgrims with minutes to spare on January 2017's transfer deadline day, on loan from Cardiff City until the end of the season. His arrival was possibly the result of warm overtures from Cardiff's manager Neil Warnock (also Argyle's manager, 1995-97) about loaning the Greens a player, made during BT Sport's live coverage of the Liverpool FA Cup replay at Home Park.

Kennedy weighed in with five goals in 17 appearances in the second half of the 2017-18 season, helping Derek Adams' side to promotion from League Two and himself to a medal. He scored three times in his first four starts, including a stunning curler into the top corner in front of the gathered Green Army in a 1-1 draw at Hartlepool in February 2017. His remaining two goals came as a brace in the 6-1 drubbing of Newport County in April 2017, when promotion was confirmed at a celebratory Home Park.

Returning to his parent club when the celebrations were over, he was loaned to Portsmouth for their 2017-18 campaign in League One, playing 33 times and scoring three goals. He was then released by Cardiff at the end of that season, having made 22 appearances for the club across four seasons.

Leaving Wales, he returned north of the border to sign for St Johnstone in the Scottish Premiership, where he spent two seasons, playing 62 times and scoring 12. He then moved to league rivals Aberdeen in January 2020, where he played 86 times and scored six goals across four seasons, and then returned to his first club, Kilmarnock, in the summer of 2023. He added a further 43 appearances and scored three in the 2023-24 season, and ahead of the 2024-25 campaign, remained a regular at Rugby Park.

Kennedy's international career began at the age of 14, when he scored the winner for Scotland in a 2-1 under-16 victory against Jersey, and fired home twice in five minutes as a substitute in a 2-1 win against Northern Ireland in a Victory Shield match. He went on to represent Scotland at every age-group from under-15 to under-21, scoring nine goals in 35 international appearances. Then, in 2020, he was capped at full international level by Northern Ireland, with the switch reported as Kennedy representing the country of his birth. By 2024 he had won five full caps for 'Norn Iron'.