Fred Keenor: The Man Who Never Gave Up

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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. Colwyn Bay's John Neal, Fred Dewey of Cardiff Corinthians, Llanelli's Elvet Collins and Emrys Ellis of amateur London club Nunhead were among the unfamiliar names in a side which was expected to suffer a heavy defeat.

Last night Cardiff City chairman Peter Ridsdale told the Echo he would be happy to throw himself and the club behind the idea.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.

The game against England in 1930 was the last time until 2008 that any non-league players were selected for Wales." Thankfully, and against all odds, Fred remarkably returned to professional football in 1919 after several years working at a gasworks and as a milkman. He had featured as a guest star for Brentford to aid his rehabilitation, but returned to Ninian Park and lifted the Welsh Cup in 1920. To promote the single Owen and Jonny set off on a promotional tour, which included TV shows such as Soccer AM, but also a selection of Cardiff City loyal pubs around South Wales.Fred Keenor". mirrorfootball.co.uk. Archived from the original on 7 May 2010 . Retrieved 12 October 2009. Before the match, Keenor had asked Robbins if he could have the players to himself for four hours before the game. Taking the team to relax and discuss tactics for the match, in his pre-match team talk he exhorted his teammates, “There’s eleven of them and eleven of us, and there’s only one ball, and it’s ours”. Despite their inexperience, the Welsh side held Scotland to a 1-1 draw having taken the lead after six minutes through a Tommy Bamford goal. The display led the Welsh public to call for the same side to remain for the following match against England. There was no repeat of the result, however, the Welsh side lost 4-0 at The Racecourse Ground. Keenor won his 32nd and final cap for Wales on 26th October 1932 in a 5-2 victory over Scotland at Tynecastle. He scored twice during his Welsh international career. 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. Keenor was selected to represent the Welsh schoolboy side in 1907 and appeared in the first-ever meeting between the English and Welsh schoolboy sides, [67] playing in the match as an outside-right. [6] He also featured in two Victory Internationals at the end of the First World War. [67] Keenor was handed his debut for the senior team on 15 March 1920. He was named in the squad for their 2–1 victory over England in the 1919–20 British Home Championship, following the withdrawal of Billy Jennings through injury. [68] On 16 February 1924, Keenor was handed the Wales captaincy for the first time in his career for a match against Scotland. [69] The Scots were captained by his Cardiff teammate Jimmy Blair, making the match the first time in the history of international football that opposition teams had been captained by players from the same club side. [70]