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Revision as of 20:18, 28 July 2006
- For the American rock musician, see Ray Kennedy (musician).
Raymond Kennedy (born Northumberland, 28 July 1951) is an English former football player who won every domestic honour in the game with Arsenal and Liverpool in the 1970s.
Playing career
Kennedy trained as an apprentice with Port Vale but was told by manager Stanley Matthews at the age of 16 that he wasn't good enough to be a professional footballer. Accepting that a man who had once been England's greatest player was probably speaking the truth, Kennedy returned to his native north-east and started playing as an amateur and working in a sweet factory.
He was then spotted by a scout for Arsenal, who signed him in 1968. Two years later he made his first team debut on 29 September 1969, against Glentoran in the 1969-70 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup; that season Arsenal progressed to the competition's final and the young Kennedy has a starring role. As a substitute in the first leg, with Arsenal losing 3-0 to Anderlecht, Kennedy scored a crucial late goal. Arsenal completed the comeback in the second leg with a 3-0 win at Highbury, and won 4-3 on aggregate; it was their first European trophy.
Kennedy had only played six times in 1969-70, but the following season (1970-71) he only missed one game in all competitions, as part of the Arsenal side which became only the second in the 20th century to win the coveted Double of League Championship and FA Cup. A tight, dramatic finale to the title race saw Kennedy score the only goal of the game against Arsenal's fiercest rivals Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane to secure the title for Arsenal, their first since 1952-53. Three days later, Arsenal beat Liverpool 2-1 after extra time to win the FA Cup. Kennedy didn't score in the final, but did end the season with 27 goals, making him the club's top scorer.
Arsenal returned to Wembley to defend the FA Cup the following season but lost 1-0 to Leeds United; Kennedy came on as a substitute for John Radford but was unable to net the equaliser; he still finished as Arsenal's top scorer for 1971-72, scoring 19 goals. For the next two seasons he continued to be a regular for Arsenal, scoring consistently (and finishing as top scorer again in 1973-74) but did not win another trophy as the Double-winning side was slowly broken up. After the end of the 1973-74 season, Kennedy was sold to Liverpool for £180,000. He turned out to be the last signing made by manager Bill Shankly, who announced his retirement on the same day.
Despite his ability as a striker, Kennedy's chances to play in his favoured centre forward role at Liverpool were restricted due to the presence of the prolific Kevin Keegan and John Toshack. Shankly's successor Bob Paisley, however, had other plans for Kennedy. Giving him the number 5 shirt, Paisley converted the burly striker into a cultured attacking midfield player, based on the left flank, and Kennedy flourished in this role for the rest of the decade. Kennedy also won his first of 17 caps for England in this position. He never played as an orthodox centre forward again.
With Liverpool, Kennedy won the League title and UEFA Cup in 1975-76, scoring in the final of the latter. The following season, he came close to equalling his Double achievements with Arsenal when Liverpool ventured to Wembley for the FA Cup final having already regained their title. Victory over Manchester United would make Kennedy the first player to win the Double with two different clubs, but Liverpool lost the game 2-1. Kennedy nearly forced extra time in the last minute when his long-range shot hit the crossbar.
With dreams of the traditional Double gone, Liverpool went to Rome to contest their first European Cup final against Borussia Monchengladbach and won the game 3-1, earning Kennedy his third European honour. Kennedy and Liverpool retained the trophy the following year and again in 1980-81, while also winning the League twice more and their first League Cup.
After the emergence of young midfielder Ronnie Whelan in 1982, Kennedy left Liverpool (having played enough games to guarantee a final title medal) to join the renaissance of Swansea City under his former team-mate Toshack, who had previously recruited fellow Liverpool legends Tommy Smith and Ian Callaghan. Kennedy's spell at Swansea ended acrimoniously, with Toshack accusing Kennedy publicly of not trying, when the truth was that Parkinson's disease was setting in. Kennedy tried to resume his career in his native north-east at Hartlepool United but his condition worsened and he was forced to retire in 1984 just before his 33rd birthday. His condition was finally confirmed by a specialist when he was 35.
Retirement
Kennedy's only work in football after he finished playing was a brief spell at Sunderland as a coach. He has spent the majority of life since retirement and diagnosis working towards publicising and raising funds for the research and treatment of Parkinson's. Arsenal and Liverpool played each other in a testimonial game in 1991 to raise money for the cause.
To this day Kennedy lives a quiet, homebound life with decreased mobility and a dependency on drugs to control the discomfort of his condition. He had to sell his medals, caps, shirts and other memorabilia after falling on financially hard times.
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