April 15, 1933 – Joe Kennaway becomes first foreigner to earn Scottish Cup winners’ medal. Celtic 1:0 Motherwell (Att.: 102,339)
Post by frankdellapa@gmail.com
Jimmy McGrory scored off a deflection as Celtic FC won the 55th edition of the Scottish Cup (Celtic’s 14th championship). Kennaway made his international debut as a 21-year-old with Canada in 1926, then attracted Celtic’s attention in a friendly match; Fall River took a 1-0 win over Celtic May 31, 1931 (Celtic’s goalkeeper was John Thomsen, who would die following a clash with Rangers’ Sam English less than five months). Kennaway replaced Thomsen and became Celtic’s starting goalkeeper from 1931-39, then coached Brown University from 1946-59.
After the 1935 season, Kennaway returned to headlines, among 307 passengers on the Caledonia docking at East Boston; “… Kennaway and his wife, the former Miss Loretta Murphy of Providence, for a two months’ visit in Providence. At the Cunard docks they saw for the first time in a year their small daughter, Joan, who has been living in Providence with her maternal grandmother … it is another chapter in the old story of ‘local boy makes good.’ Joe Kennaway, formerly of Providence and Fall River, is now the top-notch goalkeeper of Scotland … In the four years since he was snapped up by Glasgow Celtics [sic] on a visit here, he has acquired a fame in the British Isles that Babe Ruth might envy.”
The Boston Globe story noted the cargo included 1,400 cases of Scotch whiskey “intended for Boston consumption.”
TODAY IN NEW ENGLAND SOCCER HISTORY