Frederick Charles Keenor was a Welsh professional footballer. He began his career at his hometown side Cardiff City after impressing the club's coaching staff in a trial match in 1912 organised by his former schoolteacher. A hard tackling defender, he appeared sporadically for the team in the Southern Football League before his spell at the club was interrupted by the outbreak of the First World War. Keenor served in the 17th (Service) Battalion, Middlesex Regiment, led by Major Frank Buckley, which became known as the Football Battalion. He fought in the Battle of the Somme, suffering a severe shrapnel wound to his thigh in 1916. He returned to Britain and after a lengthy rehabilitation he ended the war as a physical training instructor, reaching the rank of sergeant. He also appeared as a guest player for Brentford during the war.
Statue of Keenor outside the Cardiff City Stadium
Keenor while a guest at Brentford in 1919
Keenor pictured in the Western Mail in 1923
The statue of Keenor holding the FA Cup outside the Cardiff City Stadium
Cardiff City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as Riverside A.F.C., the club changed its name to Cardiff City in 1908 and entered the Southern Football League in 1910 before joining the English Football League in 1920. The team has spent 17 seasons in the top tier of English football, the longest period being between 1921 and 1929. Their most recent season in the top flight was the 2018–19 Premier League season.
Cardiff City playing Oxford United at Ninian Park in 1983
Manager Neil Warnock and players lift the 2017–18 EFL Championship runner-up trophy
Cardiff City fans performing "the Ayatollah" in 2011
Referee Mike Dean receiving treatment after being struck by a projectile in a South Wales derby in 2009