Ray Kennedy

[Ian Pethick]

Read yesterday about the death of Ray Kennedy at the age of 70. He had been living with Parkinson's since being diagnosed in 1984 at the age of 33 ( I saw what it did to my Dad, so cannot imagine what nearly 40 years with it would have been like).

As a player, he won the FA Cup and League double with Arsenal in 1971 playing at centre forward , but was converted to a deeper role by Bob Paisley after being signed for Liverpool by Bill Shankly in 1974 (actually finalising the move on the day Shankly resigned). He then became a key player for them in this glittering era, contributing heavily to them winning 5 league titles, 3 European Cups, a UEFA Cup, UEFA Super Cup and a League Cup. A powerful, intelligent and highly creative player on the left of Liverpool's midfield, the nearest comparison to him in the modern game would probably be the great French player Zinedine Zidane. He was an underused player for England (only winning 17 caps in 4 years), with Trevor Brooking being the first choice in his position at this time. Brooking  probably benefited from having his ex Hammers boss, Ron Greenwood, picking the side. 

He had many health, personal and financial problems since his retirement, but anybody who wants to see just how good he was, should watch a compilation of his goals on YouTube.