JAMES KEENAN: A SCOT AT RED STAR
(saison 1937-1938)
The British Isles have been represented at Saint-Ouen on numerous occasions, the latter being the short-lived spell of Londoner Tony Cascarino (although he actually played at Marville !)
We have recently received a mail from Cheryl Devlin, the great-granddaughter of a gentleman who played with Red Star for one season, 1937-1938 alongside such illustrious names as Fred Aston, André Simonyi and top scorer during the the 1930, Guillermo Stabile.
Cheryl tells us: "He was going to be signed to Glasgow Rangers but, according to my relatives, once they found out he was Catholic they did not want him playing for their team and was not signed! How times have changed. He was married to Helen and had 6 children. They immigrated to Australia in 1959 and then to LA in the USA a few years later. Sadly James died there in 1969 of stomach cancer. Helen returned to Glasgow years later and died there in 2000. The photo of James and Jock Stein was taken in the USA when Glasgow Celtic were on tour after winning the European cup in 1967. The woman in black was James wife Helen. My grandmother (James’s eldest child) once told me that France’s famous singer/actor Maurice Chevalier once invited James and family to his home. The invitation was accepted!"
The following photo is taken at Saint-Ouen, and Mr Keenan is on the front row, right.
The following photo is also taken at Saint-Ouen, during a game against Exselsior. Red Star have just scored, the goalkeeper Cabanne lies in the back of the net, whilst James Keenan, right turns away with arms raised to celebrate with scorer Presch.
Red Star lose at home 1-0 to Lens. Marek, the defender with the bandaged head, clears from Keenan (right)
Red Star have a corner during a 2-2 draw at the Stade de Paris with Racing. Mr Keenan is again on the far right of the photo.
Another 2-2 draw, this time against Strasbourg. James Keenan is pictured scoring Red Stars' first goal.
© AllezRedStar.com 2006 (Documents Cheryl Devlin & Gilles Saillant)