Fred Keenor: The Man Who Never Gave Up

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And now Cardiff City Supporters’ Trust has set-up a sub-committee to help progress the plan – with club chairman Peter Ridsdale saying he’ll support the idea.

The Trust has received permission from the Football Association to use the image of the FA Cup as part of the statue.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.” Jonny Owen (Credit: TalkSport)

The game against England in 1930 was the last time until 2008 that any non-league players were selected for Wales." 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.

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a b Hayes, Dean (2006). The Who's Who of Cardiff City. Derby: Breedon Books. pp.107–108. ISBN 978-1-85983-462-6. Curtis, aged 19 years and 317 days, was the youngest FA Cup winner in 1927 and capped a dream season by winning Wales honours in a 2-2 draw against Scotland at Wrexham. As soon as was possible the Cup winners were taken to the City Hall, where the Lord Mayor of Cardiff received them. The route to the hall was crammed, and progress was very slow as a result. Cheers rent the air from all quarters, and there was not a break in the volume of sound during the mile journey from the station to Cathays Park. Keenor finished his career with spells at Crewe Alexandra, Oswestry Town and Tunbridge Wells Rangers. During his career, he also attained 32 caps for the Wales national football team. He 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. Following his death in 1972, the Football Association of Wales secretary Trevor Morris commented, "Fred Keenor will go down as one of the greatest players and greatest characters ever produced by Wales". [2]