WE should really have hated Howard Kendall.
We should have resented the way he took over a disjointed, demoralised Everton and led them to the pinnacle of the game, at home and abroad.
We should have begrudged how he galvanised a fan base that had been crying out for something to believe in for more than a decade.
We should have regarded him as Public Enemy No.1 for interrupting our annual title procession, shaking our perch a good eight years before Alex Ferguson made perch demolition his life’s work.
But that’s not how it worked. Not when we could see the effect a successful Everton had on the city. For a generation, our Blue mates had no option but to put up with the jibes and the laughter as Liverpool became firmly entrenched as football’s dominant force. The only crumbs of consolation came via the odd derby victory, celebrated like cup final triumphs, sparks in the darkness.
The prospect of an Everton team that could go toe-to-toe with Liverpool, with the best team in Europe, over the course of a season and come out on top, seemed remote. No. It was less likely than that. It seemed impossible.
Howard Kendall changed things. And we might not have admitted it at the time. We might have longed for the days of Billy Bingham and Gordon Lee, when Evertonian under-achievement became the norm. But it made watching football on Merseyside more exciting than it had been for years. Deep down, I don’t think anyone, Red or Blue, would have had it any other way.
I remember the first time I felt Kendall’s Everton might actually be a threat. It was the Goodison derby, March 1984. In truth, they had been something of a shambles for the first half of that season, with attendances plummeting and a campaign to oust Kendall growing in volume. Obviously, we loved it. One misplaced backpass later, with the protagonist, Oxford’s Kevin Brock, carving his own special place in Everton’s history, and the revival was underway. Kendall’s team finally began to take shape.
The derby was their chance to show the world how far they’d come. Despite the inevitable Ian Rush opener, Liverpool spent much of the game camped in their own area, unable to halt the wave of attacks, uncertain in possession, increasingly rattled by the ferocity of Everton’s onslaught. A late equaliser was the least they deserved. I came away from Goodison that day exhausted and relieved. A new experience.
This Everton, Kendall’s Everton, had served notice that they would no longer be a soft touch. Things were going to change, and quickly.
Within two months, they had taken Liverpool to the limit across two matches in the League Cup Final, and won the FA Cup, the first trophy to find its way back to Goodison since 1970. The question was, could they sustain it? Could they use cup success as a launchpad for a title challenge?
In 1984-85, they took it up a level. As all Evertonians will tell you, this was the year they overtook us, the year everything came together, the year they dreamed out loud.
Everton won the league by 13 points. They won the Cup Winners’ Cup, memorably crushing Bayern Munich in the process. They lost the FA Cup Final in extra time.
It was remarkable. It was horrifying. It was a little bit fascinating, to be honest.
And it was Howard Kendall who made it happen.
What Kendall did was construct a team that amounted to a lot more than the sum of its parts. There were no real stars, no-one widely regarded as a unique talent. Aside from Neville Southall, who could legitimately claim to be the world’s best goalkeeper during Everton’s pre-eminence.
It was all about balance and leadership and bottle. A collection of very good footballers who believed in each other, who believed in the manager, and who would grind opponents down as much by force of will as individual brilliance. The pace and anticipation of Kevin Ratcliffe. The composure of Gary Stevens. The commitment and inspiration of Peter Reid. The poise of Kevin Sheedy. The simplicity of Paul Bracewell. The combative, perpetually irritating Graeme Sharp.
And a manager who had worked out how to get the very best out of all of them, consistently, relentlessly.
By contrast, in the post-Graeme Souness landscape Liverpool struggled. Everton triumphed in three successive derbies, at Wembley (via a fortuitous Bruce Grobbelaar own-goal), Anfield (via a Sharp wonder-volley that has passed into Evertonian folklore, despite it being undoubtedly the most wind-assisted goal in history) and Goodison (an end-of-season irrelevance). Not that we found this power-shift difficult to accept at all.
The following season, with Kenny Dalglish installed as Liverpool player-manager and Gary Lineker reinforcing the Everton attack, the pendulum swung once more. 1985-86 had all the drama, all the twists, all the gravitas of the greatest sporting tussles. It was Ali-Frazier, Borg-McEnroe, Coe-Ovett.
And this time around, the Reds came out on top. Liverpool won an historic double; Everton, runners-up in league and Cup, were left shattered. Whether in exultation or desolation, one thing was clear. Merseyside, again, was the centre of the football world. The natural order had been restored and we all loved it. The city was being hammered from all angles, by the government, by the media, but collectively we’d got our swagger back. It felt right.
Kendall’s swansong, his final season at Everton before leaving to test himself in Spain with Athletic Bilbao, was a triumphant one. Though his team lacked the explosion and the breathlessness of the preceding years, and contained players who, on paper, didn’t belong in a title-chasing outfit, it refused to yield. Ultimately, it was Liverpool whose frailties were exposed.
With nine games to go, Dalglish’s side sat nine points clear of their biggest rivals. As Everton pressed on remorselessly, Liverpool faltered. The Blues were unstoppable and finished the campaign as Champions for the second time in three seasons, a nine-point cushion emphasising the scale of the turnaround.
In the aftermath, the paths of the two clubs diverged. Some would say they have rarely met since. As Liverpool rebuilt in thrilling fashion, with John Barnes and Peter Beardsley ushering in a new period of domination, Kendall’s departure heralded a decline in Everton’s fortunes that has never been consistently reversed.
He went on to have two further spells in charge at Goodison. That he was unable to recreate the magic that brought Everton supporters the best time of their lives doesn’t much matter now. His achievements in those four seasons will always stand, a worthy testament to a proper football man. Two league titles. One FA Cup. One Cup Winners’ Cup. Runners up in the league, the FA Cup (twice) and the League Cup. All in four seasons. It’s not bad that, is it?
Howard Kendall. A great manager. And more than that. A good man. In a game beset by bluster and hypocrisy, corruption and greed, things like that matter. The loss of a good man, a man whose passion and enthusiasm shone through, affects all of us, makes us all that bit poorer. Because what unites us, what motivates us all to keep the love for this ridiculous, frustrating, addictive game going, has to stand for more than that which divides us. At least some of the time, at any rate.
Nice one, Howard. You were alright with us.
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Pics: David Rawcliffe-Propaganda-Photo/PA Images
Fine piece sums up my feelings exactly. We need two top teams in Liverpool!
Spot on. Well done you.
That’s left me with a lump in my throat Neil. Great read. You’ve recaptured that era so poignantly. Great stuff.
Beautiful, thanks for writing this. Just one quibble:
“… a good eight years before Alex Ferguson made perch demolition his life’s work.”
Please, let’s not give credit where it’s not due. It wasn’t Ferguson who knocked Liverpool off their perch, it was Hillsborough. He’s been the fortunate beneficiary of that tragedy for most of the last 20 years, but until 15 April 1989 there wasn’t the slightest sign that Liverpool wouldn’t continue to dominate, or that Dalglish wouldn’t go on to before the most successful manager of them all.
How on earth can you use Hillsborough as a reason for United overtaking Liverpool? Ridiculous statement.
it’s an absolute fact.Paul Tomkins said as much years ago. It broke Dalglish and left a vacuum which United filled
Cheers. The aftermath of Hillsborough and the impact it had on Dalglish was one of a number of factors that contributed to the eventual decline. But it still took someone like Ferguson, and the teams he built, to capitalise on the weaknesses that soon become apparent. Without him, would they still have been able to dominate in the way they went on to do? I doubt it. Toppling Liverpool was his obsession, the thing that drove him. I think that’s probably what I was trying to say.
Not give credit where its due? Are you serious?
Liverpool won the league the year after Hillsborough.
I am sure Dalglish was affected by the events on that fateful day but please, dont lower yourself to excuses. Ferguson was a great manager, to not have respect for his achievements is an insult. Like those of Revie, Clough, Shankly, Catterick, Paisley, he is up there with the best, if not the best.
Could the same not be said for Heysel, really affected Everton that, Kendall left for Spain when his team would have probably won the European cup. Everton never recovered. Very nice piece this.
Rest in peace Howard
Nice one, Neil. Good read about a good man.
Just looked on Wikipedia: the last English manager to win a UEFA competition with an English club.
That’s bloody ridiculous (but a good quiz question).
Great written piece! Totally unbiased and fair. You’re going to the top writing like this.
Thank you so much for this lovely article. I’m a 57 year old life-long Blue and I really appreciate all the respect being shown to a great man(ager). The fact that this particular article comes from a Red makes it even more special in my eyes. It’s an excellent piece, well-written, heartfelt, and free of all the tribalism we have become so used to in the modern age. You should be proud of yourself. Thank you again.
Sums up exactly how it felt at the time. Brilliant piece. Well done!
Hand it
Hand it over, hand it over, hand it over Everton / Liverpool.
When Merseyside ruled the country’s football world and Manchester was a Trophy free zone. Parochial pride maybe but great fun whilst it lasted and the sight of terraces full of red, blue and the obligatory half and half with Celtic bobble hats was one to behold.
As the Bunnymen would say Nothing Lasts Forever
Thankyou Neil for such a unbiased and moving tribute to a great manager-player and man I am 64 and a lifelong blue I shed a few tears at the united game and your piece done the same.Once again thankyou for such a brilliant tribute.
Cheers for the comments. All much appreciated. Ta.
A well written and unbiased peice. But I shouldn’t expect anything less from a Liverpudlian, just as you don’t expect anything less from us. Our city is a class apart and how those halcyon years of the mid eighties deserve to be repeated.
A good piece with a very large omission. The one I’m afraid reds still refuse to deal with as they have so well with Hboro …
Heysel
Not that it compares to the deaths of 39 innocent Italians.. but it remains the reason Howard left and the great Everton team broke up and never competed for the biggest prize of all.
It may have passed you by but this was our coverage of Heysel on the anniversary earlier this year. Have a read/listen and see if you still have this viewpoint: http://www.theanfieldwrap.com/2015/05/heysel-30-years-an-introduction/
I had not heard of your site until blue mate shared link to the Howard piece. I have read the link above and can only applaud you for both addressing it at all and for doing so with seriousness. If only all supporters were so measured and intelligent. Well done you…
Well done Neil. I might have my head in the clouds but I do think the ‘relationship’ is improving and balanced articles like this will only help.
Childish partisanship, yes…..boxing and spiteful venom, no. COYB.
It wasn’t Ferguson who knocked us off our perch it was the European ban that was to hurt us the hardest, and like all great Empire’s it doesn’t crumble over night.
Oh and throw in Souness the manager too.
Great article and they were great times football lwise although it didn’t feel it when Everton were picking up titles
Has any City ever had every trophy on display that they entered like in 1984?
Great sentiments and a lot of truth spoken, as a Red I went to Goodison for the Bayern Munich semi and definitely had mixed feelings! A great time in the city’s football history and Howard Kendall was a massive part of that.
An excellent article Neil, a very accurate account of those years. May I also thank you for describing the derby game in March 1984. Many of my fellow blues recount ( ad nauseum ) the Kevin Brock incident as being the start of our all too brief run of success. I always recall that derby and see it as the catalyst.
As you point out Rush got thing under way as was common…” here we go again” was the feeling in Gwladys St initially. Then lo and behold we started pressing. Such was the reds dominance in those days I was settling for an honourable defeat when Alan Harper ( I think ) belted in from the edge of the box.
Belief started that day.
Thanks again for reminding me of this…..( love the wind assisted stuff btw )
That’s brilliant. Listening to Phil Thompson on Sky just after the news broke had me in bits. High praise coming from the other side shows just how great Howard Kendall was!
Excellent and poignant tribute from one of our red brothers, cheers lad
Thanks for that wonderful recognition of a man who was at the helm of making me feel 10 foot tall.
Hearing of Howard’s passing was like receiving a punch to the solar plexus,so sad,he restored glory were there was apathy.
I was now attending games home and away were the likely outcome,was a victory for the boys from Goodison.
Those glorious memorable times will remain with me for as long as i can walk up the Gwladys Street steps,take my seat and hope for a win.
So thanks Neil,you’ve captured the kindred spirit of what makes Liverpool and Everton supporters very unique indeed.
Brilliant piece of writing – sums it all up, thanks