Longtime Vegas ref finds his spot in Hall of Fame

By Rob Miech

Tuesday, July 28, 2009 | 1:55 a.m.

John Kennedy returned home to Scotland in May and got the royal treatment on a tour of Ibrox Stadium, home of his beloved Rangers, where he was introduced to club officials and players.

A production crew recorded a 15-minute television interview with Kennedy, which ran prominently on the team’s Web site, on the Ibrox pitch.

The longtime Las Vegas soccer referee shared a page in The Sunday Post, printed in Edinburgh and distributed throughout the country, with international singing sensation Susan Boyle.

His mates, 25 of whom watched a Rangers game at the Snaffle Bit pub in Glasgow with him, have hailed Kennedy as a hero.

All of which came from an in-depth profile on Kennedy in the Sun, from May 18, that detailed his imminent induction into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in New York.

That happens Saturday night. Kennedy, his wife Marjory, and four friends leave Wednesday on Kennedy’s journey to soccer immortality.

“I’m a wee bit nervous,” Kennedy, 59, said Monday afternoon over a turkey BLT and salad. “It’s going to be such a big ceremony. I have to make a speech.”

He delivered one Saturday night that drew a standing ovation before more than 300 at a Marriott in San Francisco. The National Intercollegiate Soccer Officials Association, which nominated Kennedy for induction in the Hall in New York, honored him.

He talked about the people who influenced him and who helped him, and about his love for soccer.

“It went pretty good,” said Kennedy, who has been a referee, linesman or fourth official in more than 15,000 matches, many at UNLV.

One of those was the longest match in NCAA Division-I history. He was the man in the middle in Seattle in 1985 when UCLA defeated American in eight overtimes for the NCAA championship.

Former Bruins defender and longtime U.S. national team player Paul Caligiuri recently read the Sun feature on Kennedy and called to congratulate him.

“It’s unbelievable,” Kennedy said. “Calls like that mean the world, and I’m still hearing from the guys back in Scotland. They think it’s the bee’s knees. They’re almost more excited than I am.”

He even received a rousing round of applause on Sunday’s return flight from San Francisco on Southwest Airlines, when an attendant announced his induction into the soccer Hall this weekend.

That came courtesy of good friend and fellow Vegas ref Bobby Singer.

“It’s just so funny,” said Kennedy, who has trimmed 59 pounds off his 5-foot-5 frame this year and is down to 196. He can’t remember the last time he weighed in below 200.

He’ll look lean and mean for the Hall.

“Whether it’s a game of 12-year-olds or a high-quality match, it’s all the same to me,” Kennedy said. “They’re all important to the man in the middle and his crew.

“I figured I would be a good referee. I know what a foul is. I played the game. I either did it or had it done to me.”

A Rangers official who saw the Sun feature got in touch with Kennedy and fulfilled a lifetime dream with the invitation to Ibrox. He and Marjory spent hours in the stadium.

They met American midfielders DaMarcus Beasley and Maurice Edu, captain David Weir, the Scot who played college soccer at Evansville, many other Rangers and manager Walter Smith.

“To be in that atmosphere was incredible,” Kennedy said. “We saw all those great players on the walls of fame, all the trophies, all the hallways and offices and, downstairs, the dressing rooms.

“It’s hard to fathom it all. I told them all I felt like a kid in a candy store, and I don’t think they knew what I meant. It’s the greatest feeling in the world.”

Kennedy started talking about the six-a-side match he’d be officiating Monday night in North Las Vegas and the adult league match he’d be calling Tuesday in Summerlin when his cell phone rang.

It was Marj.

How’s that speech going?