Kemp: John J. (John)
1957-1959
(Player Details)
Outside Left
Born: Clydebank: 11-04-1934
Debut: v Manchester City (h): 21-02-1959
5’6” 9st 9 ½ lb (1957)
After starting with local Scottish Junior club Duntocher Hibernian, Kemp made
his name with Clyde, scoring three goals in twelve League games in 1955-56 as
Clyde were relegated from the Scottish First Division. He scored another four
goals in 1956-57 before joining First Division Leeds United in December 1957,
after playing once for Clyde in the 1957-58 season. His stay at Leeds was not the
most successful, as he broke a bone in his foot and made his only senior
appearance in a disasterous home defeat. He went to Fourth Division Barrow in
March 1959 and was far more successful, playing one hundred and seventy League
games, scoring forty-six goals for them. He scored twice in ten appearances in
the balance of the 1958-59 season but in 1959-60 he missed only four League games
while scoring nine goals as Barrow finished eighteenth. Barrow fared worse in
1960-61 when they slipped to twenty-second as Kemp scored five goals in
twenty-six League games. In the following season of 1961-62 he had his best
season, when he topped the club's goalscorers with fifteen goals in rhe League
and inwhich he made thirty-nine appearances as well as scoring in his only F.A.
Cup game, as Barrow rose to ninth just eight points behind Champions Millwall. He
scored ten times in the League from thirty-four appearances and added another
goal in the League Cup, as Barrow maintained ninth spot twelve points off the
pace. He had hit the net four times in nineteen League games in 1963-64 before
leaving to join Third Division Crewe Alexandra in December 1963, where he scored
seven times in forty-seven League appearances before ending his career in June
1966. He was not a prolific goalscorer at Gresty Road and scored once in
twenty-one League appearances in the balance of the 1963-64 season, as the club
finished twenty-second and slipped into the Fourth Division. Back in familiar
surroundings Kemp scored five goals in nineteen League appearances as Crewe
finished tenth. Now thirty-two he scored once in the League from seven
appearances and also scored one in the League Cup before retiring at the end of
the 1965-66 season