John McKenna : Short Biography

Surname MacKenna

MacKenna is the English form of the Irish surname MacCionaoith.  They were originally based in Meath, but came north into Clogher as mercenaries for the rulers there.  As a result of their efforts the MacKennas became lords of the Barony of Truagh.   This area borders the modern counties of Tyrone and Monaghan.  Truagh was and still is the heartland of the McKenna clan.  They ruled this territory until Gaelic rule ended in Ulster in the 1600s and now the surname is found in over a quarter of the households in the civil parish of Donagh.  

 
It was in Drumcaw, County Monaghan that Seán MacCionaoith, later known as John McKenna was born on 3 January 1855 to Patrick McKenna and Jane McCrudden.   At the age of seventeen, he like many thousands of Irish people took the boat to Liverpool to look for work.  Upon arrival in 1872, he got work in a grocer shop, stacking shelves and other various tasks.

Read More: Irish in Liverpool 
 
But it was his interest in sport that was to shape his future.  He enjoyed rifle shooting, and joined the 4th Lancashire Artillery Volunteers and became a battery sergeant major.   In 1885 he was involved in setting up the regimental rugby club, after which he became a rugby player with West Lancashire County Rugby Football Union.   He was well respected and his ability as a man of vision and action was apparent at this time.

He felt his income as a player was insufficient and he became a vaccination officer for the West Derby Union, which managed several workhouses.  At an Orange Order lodge meeting he met John Houlding, a local brewer and future Conservative mayor of Liverpool; the two men became friends sharing political and religious interests.  Houlding invited McKenna to watch Everton Football Club (FC) play at Anfield and as a result he became a regular at their games and his interest in rugby waned. 

Career at Liverpool Football Club

When Houlding split from Everton FC and formed Liverpool FC, McKenna became Liverpool FC’s joint secretary and took charge of their team affairs and in their first season they won the Lancashire League.  McKenna then seen a notice inviting clubs to apply to join the Second Division of the Football League, and buoyed with success he applied on behalf of the club.  However, William Barclay the administrative secretary did not approve of them joining the Football League and so McKenna completed the application in Barclay’s name and address.  When Barclay received a telegram, proclaiming that Liverpool was elected and inviting him to come to London the next day, McKenna then had to explain himself and persuade Barclay and the club directors that this was the best option for the club.  He succeeded and they let him go to London as their official representative.  He returned with Liverpool on the season’s fixture list, this changed the history of the club. 

On 2 September 1893, Liverpool played their first Football League match away to Middlesbrough Ironopolis, and won 2–0.  McKenna was vindicated and Liverpool went on to win the Second Division title.   McKenna changed the club strip from blue and white to red shirts and black shorts and decided that the club needed a first team manager.  In 1896, he persuaded Tom Watson, who had won three First Division League titles with Sunderland to come and manage Liverpool and they won their First Division Leagues in 1901 and 1906. 

McKenna proved himself to be an extremely capable administrator.  He was vice chairman from 1900-1909, chairman from 1909-1914, 1917-1919 and a director until 1922, when he retired from Liverpool FC.   He was also part of the management committee of the Football League from 1902, vice president in 1908 becoming president in 1910, a position he held until his death in 1936, and was also vice president of the Football Association.  Liverpool was always close to his heart and as president of the Football League he officially opened the newly roofed and extended Kop at Anfield. 

John Houlding died in 1902, ten years after the Everton/Liverpool split and it was McKenna along with William Cuff, Everton’s equally brilliant administrator that helped heal the split.  At Houlding’s funeral three players from Everton and three from Liverpool were pallbearers and they carried his coffin into the church and to his grave in Everton Cemetery.   This was the start of co-operation between the two clubs.  The clubs launched joint programs and supported one another at various events.   Cuff and McKenna became members of the International Selection committee that picked the England team and they both worked hard to keep the game from corruption. 

Opposition to Gambling

McKenna was strongly opposed to gambling and he fought in vain to keep the betting pools out of the games, as he knew poor people would squander their meagre income, in the hope of becoming wealthy.  McKenna would lead the fight as president of the Football League.  This fight would ultimately hasten his demise.  In March 1936, after a special meeting in Manchester to discuss the pool issue, he slipped and fell at the railway platform, a week later he travelled to Inverness to watch a Scotland/England game, but on his journey home he became ill and was rushed to Walton Hospital.  He died on 22 March 1936 aged 81. 

His wife, Charlotte Maria died in 1909 and they had no family, however huge crowds turned up at St. Margaret’s Church, Anfield on 26 March 1936 in testament to McKenna’s standing and reputation within the football fraternity.  Three Liverpool and three Everton players followed McKenna’s funeral casket down the aisle, while directors from both clubs were in attendance.   Large crowds also gathered at Smithdown Road Cemetery where he was buried, while along the route, every house and shop had their blinds closed as a mark of respect.  There were many wonderful tributes paid to him including the following excerpt from his best friend, William Cuff, Everton chairman:

     ‘He will live long in the memory of all who had anything to do with the     governing of football.  Fearless, outspoken, and absolutely honest, he     was well-named ‘Honest John’.  The Football world in general is under     a very deep sorrow.’   

Almost a year later Cuff unveiled a memorial plaque to John McKenna in the foyer at Anfield.  In August 2011 in Glaslough, Co. Monaghan another plaque was unveiled near to where McKenna was born.  Keith Faulkiner, author of Emerald Anfield, said of McKenna’s achievements that:

    ‘The course of history has proven John McKenna to be one of the most     powerful and successful men at Liverpool Football Club - the third most     important figure, in my opinion, after only Bill Shankly and the clubs     founder John Houlding. The people of Monaghan should be proud of     this history and proud of 'Honest' John McKenna - who is arguably the     greatest Irishman who has ever been involved with the game of     association football in Britain." 

May he never walk alone.