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As far as former Scotland internationalists go, there’s only one Stuart Kennedy and it’s his 62nd birthday on 31st May 2015. Stuart [who shouldn’t be confused with Stewart our ill-fated goalkeeper from 1975] was an over-lapping full-back in the mould of Jardine and McGrain – whose success arguably helped restrict Kennedy’s cap tally to just eight. Indeed Willie Donachie was often Kennedy’s defensive partner.

Those eight caps included two at the 1978 World Cup Finals versus Peru and the Netherlands hence ‘immortalisation’ on the attached Tennents Lager beermat. The Aberdeen defender won his debut cap however in a friendly victory over Bulgaria at Hampden in February 1978 with Coventry’s Jim Blyth and Ian Wallace also making their first appearance for Scotland that evening. His final cap was in a world cup qualifier against Portugal in Lisbon in 1981 whilst in the semi-final of the European Cup Winners Cup against Belgian side Waterschei he sustained a serious knee injury which sadly ended his career.

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The other image attached is from the Scotland-Northern Ireland programme for the British Championship match in May 1979. However, not only did Kennedy not play that evening but they mis-spelt his first name and called him Stewart. Stuart or Stewart -what’s the difference? Is one a Jacobite version? Maybe I should ask our very own ‘Young Pretender’ David Stuart.

Anyway, as well as appreciating Kennedy’s football skills I once enjoyed a visit to his public house near Falkirk High train station which had its walls adorned with an excellent collection of football photographs and souvenirs, and which if memory serves, sold a nice pint of Tartan Special -several nice pints in fact.

Cheers Stuart and here’s to all the other bijou-boozers that indulge in a spot of Scotland memorabilia including the likes of the Pittodrie Bar, Aberdeen, the Tynecastle Arms, Edinburgh plus old Glasgow favourites the International Bar on Aikenhead Road and the Iron Horse on West Nile Street.

Robert Marshall

First posted on Facebook on May 27th, 2015