[lfc-news] Reliving the legend - Echo

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Liverpool Echo, 12 Nov 2004
Reliving the legend
By Tony Barrett, Liverpool Echo

THERE can't be many footballers who've endeared themselves to their
supporters with a shot which flew yards wide of the goal.

But from the moment Anfield debutant Alan Kennedy unleashed a thunderbolt
of a strike which missed the Kop goal and knocked off a policeman's helmet
he won a place in the hearts of Liverpool fans that he still holds today.

Kennedy signed for Liverpool from Newcastle in the summer of 1978 for
£330,000, a then record fee for a defender, and went on to become a folk hero.

He has now co-written a book about his time at Anfield, Kennedy's Way:
Inside Bob Paisley's Liverpool, which he admits has given him the
opportunity to indulge in a bit of nostalgia.

But this week Alan's thoughts of the past have been filled with his former
teammate and friend Emlyn Hughes who died on Tuesday.

"Emlyn was a great player and quite rightly a legend at Anfield.

"I went to the match on Wednesday and I thought the minute's silence was
wonderful and the fact that Liverpool won was the kind of tribute Emlyn
would have wanted. I also got the chance to speak to Emlyn's family and it
was great to remember the good times."

As a player Alan picked up the gauntlet thrown down by Emlyn as he peppered
his Liverpool career with performances full of determination and no little
skill.

But when Alan first burst into the Liverpool team following in the
footsteps of Emlyn and taking the place of another Kop hero Joey Jones he
found the pressure almost unbearable.

"I came from Newcastle and the way we played up there was all about getting
the ball to the forwards quickly which meant launching it long.

"At Liverpool I started off hitting the ball 60 yards and the other players
would be screaming at me to keep it short because their short passing game
was all about giving the ball no more than four or five yards.

"That was difficult enough, but the fact that I was getting picked ahead of
heroes like Joey Jones and Emlyn made things even harder." For a player who
scored in four cup finals, including two in Europe, and who was quoted as
saying Tommy Smith didn't worry him in the slightest before Newcastle took
on Liverpool in the 1974 FA Cup Final Alan never felt fully confident in
his own ability until long after he hung his boots up.

He says: "I only started to feel comfortable at Anfield around about the
1983/84 season. Before then I always felt my place was under threat despite
the fact that Bob Paisley seemed to favour a back four of Neal, Hansen,
Lawrenson and myself.

"I suppose I was putting myself under pressure, but when you are surrounded
by the likes of Souness, Dalglish and Hansen it is very easy to start
questioning your ability."

Fortunately for Alan, the one person who always had faith in him was
legendary Red's boss Bob Paisley.

At a press conference to mark Alan's arrival at Anfield, Paisley, who was
usually a man of few words startled the assembled press corps by telling
them that if his new signing did not play for England he would throw
himself in the Mersey, "with the tide out".

It was a testament of faith that was both prophetic, Kennedy went on to
play for his country twice, and inspirational.

And it was a show of faith that Alan repaid many times over but most
memorably with his two European Cup winning goals.

The first came against the mighty Real Madrid at the Parc des Princes in
Paris in 1981, with the second being the deciding penalty in a shoot-out
with Roma on their own ground three years later.

Alan says it was moments like these that inspired him to write his book.

"I have talked about my Cup Final goals so many times. But there are
certain things only those close to me have known before, like the fact that
when I took the penalty in Rome the one thing that was going through my
mind was my family.

"Luckily for them I did score, but I was haunted by the fear of missing
until the ball actually hit the back of the net."

Twenty years on from that famous penalty Alan can recall every single
moment as if it were yesterday.

And writing the book along with co-author John Williams allowed him to
relive some of his greatest moments of his life.

The only thing Alan hasn't brought back is the moustache he wore with pride
in his 1980's heyday. He shaved it off after a drunken night out in
Barbados three years ago and it hasn't reappeared since.

But fans of Alan's moustache will not be disappointed, it does feature
prominently in his book.

* Kennedy's Way: Inside Bob Paisley's Liverpool is available in all good
book shops from Monday priced £15.99.


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