71 Facts About Fred Keenor

Frederick Charles Keenor was a Welsh professional footballer.

Fred Keenor began his career at his hometown side Cardiff City after impressing the club's coaching staff in a trial match in 1912 organised by his former schoolteacher.

Fred Keenor fought in the Battle of the Somme, suffering a severe shrapnel wound to his thigh in 1916.

Fred Keenor returned to Britain and after a lengthy rehabilitation he ended the war as a physical training instructor, reaching the rank of sergeant.

Fred Keenor appeared as a guest player for Brentford during the war.

Fred Keenor is regarded as one of the club's all-time greats.

Fred Keenor finished his career with spells at Crewe Alexandra, Oswestry Town and Tunbridge Wells Rangers.

Fred Keenor helped the side win the British Home Championship three times, in 1920,1924 and 1928, and captained the side on numerous occasions, scoring two goals.

Frederick Charles Keenor was born in Cardiff, Wales, on 31 July 1894.

Fred Keenor was one of eleven children born to Robert and Mary Keenor.

Fred Keenor's father was a stonemason in the city, working long hours to be able to afford employing Elizabeth Maler, a live-in nanny, to help his wife care for their children.

Fred Keenor developed a keen interest in football as a child, using tennis balls to play the game in his local streets.

Fred Keenor attended Stacey Road Primary School in Adamsdown where he captained the school's football team for several years.

Fred Keenor led the side to an undefeated season to win the local schools division in 1908.

Fred Keenor was later selected to represent the city of Cardiff's schoolboy team and developed a reputation as a promising footballer.

One of his former teachers, Walter Riden, went on to join the board at Cardiff City while Fred Keenor was a player.

Fred Keenor later said that he "did not think twice about it".

Fred Keenor was impressive enough during a trial match to be offered an amateur contract with the club at the age of 17.

Fred Keenor 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.

The club's amateur side competed in the Western Football League and Fred Keenor appeared several times in games.

Fred Keenor described his two streams of income as making him "feel like a millionaire".

Fred Keenor endured a difficult start and was described in a local newspaper report as "the weak link in a very strong side".

Fred Keenor is a sound tackler, places perfectly, is a hard worker and can be of great assistance to his forwards both in feeding them and taking part in combined movements.

Fred Keenor did not appear for the first team from October 1914 until a match on 2 January 1915.

Fred Keenor eventually enlisted in February 1915, along with teammate Jack Stephenson, trainer George Latham, who had previous military experience having served in the Second Boer War, and two of the club's directors.

Fred Keenor joined the 17th Middlesex Battalion, which became known as the Football Battalion due to the many footballers who made up the core of the unit.

Fred Keenor travelled by train every weekend to the venue of each Cardiff fixture to keep playing and was listed in the matchday programmes as "Private Fred Keenor" for the remainder of the season.

Fred Keenor made 21 appearances in the league during the season, scoring two goals.

Fred Keenor was a notoriously poor shot with a rifle, even being described by the regimental sergeant major as "the worst shot he had ever seen".

Keenor was originally due to play for the army side against his club, but Cardiff manager Fred Stewart asked that he play for his club side.

Fred Keenor later described the scene during what he called a "hellish battle", stating:.

Fred Keenor was removed from the Western Front and transported to an army hospital in Dublin where he spent six months undergoing rehabilitation on his injured leg.

Between 1915 and 1919, Fred Keenor appeared as a guest for Brentford in the London Combination.

Fred Keenor resumed playing in the Southern Football League for the club, playing his first competitive match in August 1919.

Fred Keenor featured in two of the club's three pre-season fixtures.

Fred Keenor Stewart resumed his role of secretary-manager following the war.

Fred Keenor was given a selection issue in the form of Keenor and the presence of his regular first choice Patrick Cassidy.

However, Cassidy pushed for Fred Keenor to be given the chance to play due to his "youth and promise".

Fred Keenor later revealed that he had been approached by an unknown person before the game who offered him a bribe to throw the match but had flatly refused to consider the idea.

Keenor had been switched to centre-half for the match, a move Fred Stewart had resisted for some time because of his concern over Kennor's lack of height.

Fred Keenor led the team to a second FA Cup final in 1927.

Fred Keenor came close to not playing in the match as, having struggled to hold down a first team place due to injury, he handed in a transfer request in January 1927.

Fred Keenor's request was approved by board members Walter Riden and Syd Nicholls and negotiations over a proposed move to Severnside rivals Bristol Rovers were opened.

Fred Keenor was praised for his leadership of the team's defence during the match and earned plaudits from opposing captain Charlie Buchan.

Fred Keenor was overawed by the adulation of the crowd, stating: "The cup was worth winning if only to get a reception like this".

One newspaper published a caricature the following day, describing him as "the most important man in Wales" with an image depicting Fred Keenor knocking former Prime Minister David Lloyd George off a pedestal.

An ageing Fred Keenor became a target of frustrated fans as Cardiff suffered financial difficulties that saw the majority of the team's star names sold in a bid to raise funds.

Fred Keenor played his final match for the club on 6 April 1931 against Tottenham Hotspur, along with the club's all-time record goalscorer Len Davies.

Fred Keenor was released at the end of the season, ending a 19-year spell with the side.

Fred Keenor spent three years at Gresty Road, winning one final cap for Wales.

At the age of 41, Fred Keenor left the professional game, moving into non-League football.

Fred Keenor was player-manager for Oswestry Town and then Tunbridge Wells Rangers, eventually retiring from the game in February 1937.

Fred 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, playing in the match as an outside-right.

Fred Keenor featured in two Victory Internationals at the end of the First World War.

Fred Keenor was handed his debut for the senior team on 15 March 1920.

On 16 February 1924, Fred Keenor was handed the Wales captaincy for the first time in his career for a match against Scotland.

Fred Keenor described the match as the worst game he had ever played.

Charlie Buchan, captain of the opposing Arsenal side in the 1927 FA Cup final, described Fred Keenor as having "a store of energy seemed inexhaustible in defending his goal".

Fred Keenor was renowned for his fitness levels, despite being a heavy drinker and smoker.

Fred Keenor was renowned at Cardiff City for being a vocal player on the pitch well before his appointment as captain in the mid-1920s, often barracking considerably more experienced players.

Fred Keenor purchased an Irish Terrier and entered the dog in local competitions.

Fred Keenor later worked at a petrol refinery in the nearby town of Hove, and volunteered for the Territorial Army, serving as a sapper in the Royal Engineers.

Fred Keenor was discharged in June 1939 due to continuing problems with his diabetes treatment, just months before the start of the Second World War.

Fred Keenor returned to Cardiff with his wife in 1958, being employed as a storeman in the building department of Cardiff Corporation.

Muriel, his wife of nearly 50 years, died in 1967 when a gas leak outside their home went undetected and filled the house with poisonous gas, leaving Fred Keenor hospitalised after being discovered by a neighbour.

Fred Keenor made a full recovery but was deemed to need full-time care and moved into a residential nursing home in Gabalfa.

Fred Keenor continued to attend Cardiff matches until his death on 19 October 1972.

Fred Keenor's ashes were buried in Thornhill crematorium in Cardiff.

Fred Keenor left the post just days after his father's death.

Fred Keenor is considered to be one of Cardiff City's all-time great players and was inducted into the Welsh Sports Hall of Fame.

In 2010, a fundraising campaign was started by the Cardiff City Supporters' Trust to raise funds for a statue of Fred Keenor to be placed outside the club's stadium.