Finlay Kennedy (23 January 1892 – 8 March 1925) was a

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

international

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

footballer. He played as a

Prop A prop, formally known as a (theatrical) property, is an object actors use on stage or screen during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct ...

Rugby Union career

Amateur career

Kennedy played for

Stewart's College FP Stewart's College FP RFC was a Scottish rugby union club in Edinburgh. Founded The club was founded in 1875, when a match took place between the former pupils of Daniel Stewart's Hospital and George Watson's College. In 1887, the club became ...

. He captained the side for season 1913–14.

Provincial career

Kennedy played in the inter-City match between Glasgow District and Edinburgh District on 3 December 1910. Edinburgh ran out victors with a 26-5 scoreline.

International career

Kennedy was capped for

5 times, all after the First World War. He scored 13 points for Scotland; and - unusually for a prop - all points came from kicks. On 5 November 1932, some years after Kennedy's death, the ''Edinburgh Evening News'' said this of Stewarts College F.P. and Finlay Kennedy:

Yet the real basis of the College advance must be ascribed the solid work performed, season after season, the forwards. D. Lunan, G. M. Beaton, W. L. Kerr, and A. D. Lambert were all on the fringe of representative class, while Kennedy, almost as soon as he left school, was playing in trial matches, and praised for his work in loose. early 1911, Kennedy was kicking penalty goals from the vicinity of midfield. and the climax of this skill in this respect came in 1920, when he placed two magnificent 50-yard penalties against Wales at Inverleith, thereby giving Scotland her first win since 1907 over the Principality. Kennedy was a splendid leader of forwards, and was the first Stewart's man play in international Rugby.

Military career

He was a Sergeant in the Lovat Scouts in the First World War. He was awarded the DCM.

Outside of rugby union

Kennedy became a Stockbroker's Clerk, then a hotel manager running the Barnton Hotel in Cramond Bridge. He died at the hotel. He left £521 in his estate. His brother Angus was his next of kin. Initial reports stated that Kennedy was 'laid to rest in the family place of sepulture at Roy Bridge, Inverness-shire'. However a bigger funeral was evidently called for. Kennedy was buried at the Dean Cemetery in Edinburgh. Alfred Lawrie represented the SRU at the funeral; and it was well attended by a number of Edinburgh rugby union clubs.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, Finlay 1892 births 1925 deaths Edinburgh District (rugby union) players Rugby union players from Fraserburgh Scotland international rugby union players Scottish rugby union players Stewart's College FP players Rugby union props