Fred Kemp

Kemp was born in Salerno, Italy, on 27 February 1946, to an Italian mother and an English army father. He joined Wolverhampton Wanderers as a 15-year-old apprentice in April 1961, signing as a professional in May 1963. He made three Football League appearances for the Wolves before Ted Bates signed him for Southampton in June 1965 for a fee of £5,000. He made his debut at The Dell playing at inside-left against Preston North End on 27 November 1965, when George O'Brien was ill with hepatitis. He scored the Saints' second goal with a "brave header" in a 5–2 victory, and retained his place in the forward line for the next three matches before losing his place to Norman Dean. Southampton finished the 1965–66 season as runners-up in the Second Division, gaining promotion to the top division. Kemp spent two years in the reserves as a forward before being converted into a wing-half with goal-scoring ability in March 1968. On 24 August 1968, he returned to the first team, replacing Hugh Fisher at right-half, scoring the opening goal in a 2–1 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers. He retained his place for the remainder of the season, making 37 appearances and scoring four goals as Southampton finished seventh and qualified for European football for the first time, in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. Although Kemp made one appearance in the Fairs Cup, he lost his place to Fisher in November, with his final first-team appearance coming on 31 March 1970. Known as "Fiery Fred" and described…

While at Telford, Kemp played charity football in Wolverhampton and worked part-time selling furniture to offices and schools. The business expanded and Kemp's son-in-law, the former Fulham midfielder, John Marshall joined the family business. Kemp lived close to Wolves' training base at Compton.