Thomas Gordon Kennedy (born 24 June 1985) is an English former professional footballer who played as a left-back. He played semi-professionally for Ramsbottom United where he was club captain, before announcing retirement on 8 April 2022.
Kennedy was born in Bury, England and grew up supporting his local team Bury. His father, Keith Kennedy, played for Bury while his uncle, Alan Kennedy was a defender for Newcastle United and Liverpool.
As he started playing football, Kennedy revealed he started out playing as a central midfielder before moving to different positions, leading him to play as a left-back.
Kennedy began his career at Bury and after progressing through the youth ranks, Kennedy signed a contract with the club in February 2003, keeping him until August 2004.
His impressive performance in the reserves earned him a first team place in the 2003–04 season after being called–up to the pre–season tour with Bury. Following this, Kennedy then made his debut as a 54th-minute substitute in Bury's 5–3 defeat away at Mansfield Town on 16 September 2003. His first start for Bury came in their 2–1 win over Oldham Athletic in the Football League Trophy on 3 November 2003. His performance in the first team earned him Bury FC player-of-the-month for December. With 21 appearances in the first team, Kennedy signed a two-year contract with Bury. Kennedy then became Bury's first choice left back, starting all but one of Bury's remaining fixtures in the 2003–04 season, finish the season with 27 league appearances in his first full season at the club. At the end of the 2003–04 season, Kennedy was awarded the Young Player of the Year award.
Despite being linked a move away from Bury during and after the 2003–04 season, Kennedy stayed at the club for the 2004–05 season and was given a number three shirt. After being told by the club's management that he would fight for the first team place, Kennedy managed to regain his first team place in the 2004–05 season and though he played in the left–back position, he once played in the defensive midfield position. Kennedy then scored his first goal, in a 2–2 draw away at Boston United on 12 February 2005. Despite the club's financial situation, Kennedy stayed and started all Bury's 46 games of the 2004–05 season scoring once. He made a total of 50 appearances, including making 46 league appearances, for Bury in all competitions throughout the season.
In the 2005–06 season, Kennedy continued to remain in the first team place and then scored his first goal of the season on 24 September 2005 in a 2–1 away defeat at Oxford United after coming on as a 59th-minute substitute. Kennedy then scored in a 3–2 loss at home to Notts County on 29 October 2005, followed up by scoring a week later on 5 November 2005, in a 2–2 home draw with Scunthorpe United in the first round of the FA Cup. However, between December 2005 and March 2006, Kennedy spent the months sidelined when he suffered hamstring injuries on three occasions. After returning to the first team from injury against Grimsby Town on 18 March 2006, coming on as a second-half substitute, Kennedy scored his first goals in four months, in Bury's 1–1 draw at home with Oxford United on 21 March 2006. On 8 April 2006, Kennedy later scored his fourth goal of the season, in a 3–1 loss at home to Peterborough United. In the 2005–06 season, Kennedy finished the season, making 35 appearances and scoring five times in all competitions. At the end of the 2005–06 season, Kennedy signed a one-year contract extension, keeping him until 2007.
In the 2006–07 season, Kennedy continued to be in the first team regular at Bury and then set up two goals, in a 2–2 draw against Accrington Stanley on 26 September 2006. Kennedy made his last appearances for The Shakers in their 1–0 home loss to Notts County on 24 March 2007. However, as the 2006–07 season progressed, Kennedy went on to make thirty–nine appearances and was released by the club at the end of the 2006–07 season, which he seek new challenges.
Kennedy left Bury in 2007 to join local rivals Rochdale after making 158 appearances for his home town club scoring six times between 2003 when he made his debut for the club until 2007. Additionally, Kennedy was able to surpass his father's goal tally while playing for Bury, a prediction he made two years ago.
Kennedy signed for Rochdale on 4 June 2007 after four seasons at Bury.
Kennedy made his debut, in the opening game of the season on 11 August 2007, in a 3–0 loss against Peterborough United. Since making his Rochdale debut, Kennedy quickly became a first team regular, playing in the left–back position. After suffering an illness that saw him miss one match in late–December, Kennedy returned from injury and set up one of the goals, in a 3–1 win over Darlington on 1 January 2008, followed up by scoring his first goal for the club, in a 1–0 win over Wycombe Wanderers on 11 January 2008. He scored his second goal of the season on 29 January 2008, in a 4–0 win over Chester. In the play-offs against Darlington, Kennedy scored the second penalty in a penalty shoot-out and Rochdale would win the game to go to the final to face Stockport County, after Jason Kennedy miss the final spot kick. After the match, Kennedy reflected the 2007–08 season, stating that the club have had an 'amazing' season and described this an unbelievable feeling. However, Rochdale would succumb 3–2 to Stockport County, remaining in League Two for the following season. Despite this, he went on to finish his first season, making 46 appearances (43 in the league) and scoring two times in all competitions.
In the 2008–09 season, Kennedy started the season well when he helped the side go to their winning ways following the play–offs defeat to Stockport County and scored a winning goal from a free kick in stoppage time, in a 2–1 win over Chesterfield on 20 September 2008. It wasn't until on 23 January 2009 when he scored his second goal of the season, in a 3–2 loss against Dagenham & Redbridge. A week later, Kennedy signed a contract extension, keeping him until the end of the 2009–10 season. Following this, he scored two more goals later in the season against Macclesfield Town and Brentford. Since the start of the season, Kennedy featured in every league game until he missed out on the last game of the season, due to resting ahead of the play–offs. However, once again, Rochdale lost 2–1 on aggregate to Gillingham. Despite this, Kennedy was voted into the PFA League Two Team of The Year, voted for by his fellow professionals in League Two, for the 2008–09 season at the PFA awards. He was also voted Defender of the Year for the 2008–09 season following Rochdale's unsuccessful promotion push.
In the 2009–10 season, Kennedy started the season well when he scored the only goal in the game from a penalty, in a 1–0 win over Aldershot Town on 15 August 2009. He later scored two more goals by the end of the 2009 against Bury and Barnet. His performance throughout the 2009–10 season led Manager Keith Hill commented in March 2010 that Kennedy is considered as the best left-back in League Two. After helping the club finish third place that saw them promoted to League One, Kennedy finished the 2009–10 season, making 47 (44 in the league) appearances and scoring three times in all competitions. Once again, Kennedy was voted into the PFA League Two Team of The Year for the 2009–10 season at the PFA awards.
At the end of the season, Kennedy was offered a new contract by the club, as his contract set to expires in July. However, he announced his intention to leave Rochdale, with clubs in Championship like Doncaster Rovers, Leeds United, Scunthorpe United all tracking to sign Kennedy.
On 10 June 2010, the Championship side Leicester City agreed a pre-contract with Kennedy and the left back officially joined Leicester on 1 July, having rejected a chance to move Doncaster Rovers. After moving, Kennedy say he made an easy decision to join Leicester City.
Kennedy made his Leicester City debut in the first round of the League Cup, starting the whole game, in a 4–3 win over Macclesfield Town. It wasn't until on 28 September 2010 when he made his league debut for the club away, in a 4–3 loss against Norwich City, playing the whole game. During the match, he was conceded a penalty when he was penalised for handball. After the match, Kennedy acknowledged the fault of giving away the penalty, but hopes for first team football in the near future. Despite stating that he adapted to the team, his time at Leicester City was unhappy over lack of first team opportunities at Leicester City as he spent time on the bench more often, as well as, becoming the third choice player in the left–back position behind Bruno Berner and Greg Cunningham. In his first season at Leicester City, Kennedy went on to make four appearances in all competitions.