ACCOLADES from the career of one of Celtic's most formidable goalkeepers are being put up for auction.
A handful of medals and awards won by Joe Kennaway will be sold by Dix Noonan Webb in London on November 25.
Chronicling his success as the Celtic keeper throughout the 1930s, the auction will feature winners' medals from both the League Cup and Scottish Cup.
Having been submitted by a private American collector, the gold medals are expected to fetch between £2000 and £4000.
Peter Preston-Morley, specialist in commemorative medals at Dix Noonan Webb, said: "This is a historic group of awards to a man who was an important figure in Celtic's history."
The history of Kennaway's career is perhaps one of the most intriguing stories at Parkhead.
Born James Kennaway in Montreal, yet known as Joe for his entire career, the keeper emerged from obscurity to earn a place in the club's history.
Following the death of John Thomson in an Old Firm game, manager Willie Maley urgently required a goalkeeper as his regular stand-in was injured.
Having been impressed by Kennaway during Celtic's 1-0 defeat to Fall River that summer, Maley quickly arranged his transfer and the keeper arrived in Scotland to sign on October 30, 1931.
The very next day, Kennaway made his debut in a 2-2 draw with Motherwell and went on to play more than 300 games for the club.
Despite being capped for his native Canada in 1926, Kennaway was called up for Scotland due to his parents being born in Dundee.
The keeper made his single appearance in dark blue during a 2-2 draw with Austria at Hampden Park in 1933. It is claimed his Canadian passport denied him the honour of further call-ups.
Kennaway won the Scottish Cup twice during his stay at Celtic, with Motherwell and Aberdeen both edged out at Hampden in 1933 and 1937, respectively. Amazingly, the latter tie was played in front of 147,365 people, with around 20,000 denied entrance to the ground.
He was also a key to Celtic's victory at the 1938 Empire Exhibition Trophy before returning to Canada following the outbreak of the Second World War.
Kennaway later moved to Providence, Rhode Island, and became head soccer coach at Brown University. In 1969, he died of a suspected heart attack. He was also inducted into the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame in 2000.
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