When Alan Kennedy left Newcastle United it was with a heavy heart, but he got everything he wished for at Liverpool, eight years filled with joy and laden with silverware.
At Newcastle he learnt how to handle disappointment, the crushing sense of letting the supporters and a city down, losing the FA Cup final to Liverpool in 1974 and the League Cup final to Manchester City two years later.
At Liverpool, the left-back, who scandalously won only two England caps, Kennedy “learned not only how to win, but what it takes to keep on winning”.
There were two European Cups, Kennedy scoring the winning goal in the final against Real Madrid in 1981 and the winning penalty against Roma in 1984. He scored in the League Cup final against Manchester United too, winning the competition three times. He also won five league titles as a stalwart in the golden Liverpool team of the late 1970s and early 80s.
In fact, his only runners-up medal came from his time with Newcastle, a defeat that still, after all these years, and despite everything he went on to win with Liverpool, still riles.
You can take the boy out of the North East, you can even make Merseyside his home – Kennedy still lives in the area and works for the club as a match-day host – but part of the 70-year-old still belongs to Newcastle.
“Newcastle have always been a huge club, they were then, they are now,” said Kennedy, who described Sunday’s League Cup final between his two former clubs as his perfect final. “But they didn’t have a track record of winning trophies. When I played for them in the 70s, even then, the 1950s seemed a long time ago.
“We were constantly reminded of the Jackie Milburn side that won three FA Cups in the 50s, they had a track record as a cup team, but they were not used to winning them. We reached two cup finals in the 70s and the supporters were great, but I don’t think we gave them a great showing. I’m not the first or last player to say that though. I was always so grateful to Newcastle, they gave me a chance to be a footballer. It’s a great football club.”
Kennedy’s accent betrays his North East roots and the longer we talk the stronger his native tongue becomes. But after so many years on Merseyside, there is a Scouse twang there too. It is a unique sound and, in many ways, Kennedy was a unique player for his time. A prototype, perhaps, for the modern day full-back.
“It’s only when I went to Liverpool that I learned what winning was all about,” he continued. “Newcastle have never really managed to give the supporters the success they deserve. They tended to sell their best players.
“When I look back, I always felt they wanted to sell me. I was just an object to be traded. The highest bidders would get me. I could have gone to Leeds United, but Liverpool would pay more.
“I wanted to get as far as I could, to win things and compete for the league titles and cups every year. So, although I was incredibly sad to leave, I knew it was something I needed to do. I loved where I lived, I loved the area, I loved the people, but Newcastle were happy with the money.”
When Newcastle met Liverpool in the 1974 Cup final they did so as equals. Liverpool were league champions, but before that final, Newcastle had won more major trophies, 11 to Liverpool’s 10. Given the disparity since, it is a remarkable statistic.
“We [Newcastle] thought we were going to win,” he said. “Certainly the fans thought we were going to win. We had people like Malcolm Macdonald, who was our spokesperson if you like. He said a few things in the media, he was confident, let’s put it that way.
“We were a good team, but sometimes a little bit fragile. We had good players, Bob Moncur, Frank Clark, Tommy Craig and myself at the back, but we let ourselves down at big moments. I was devastated when I got home after the cup final. I felt like I’d let people and the whole city down. I was only 19…”
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When Liverpool paid Newcastle more than £300,000 for Kennedy in 1978, it was a British record for a full-back. “They’d made up their minds they wanted me,” he explained. “They paid an awful lot of money for me, £333,000. It was huge money, I made the bloody 10 o’clock news, it was such a big deal. People were thinking why the hell they paid all that money for him…”
It quickly became apparent why, and it was not because manager Bob Paisley grew up in the same village, Hetton-le-Hole in Durham, as Kennedy’s mother. “My mum said to me, ‘oh, I know Bob, we grew up together…’ I told her to keep that to herself. I did feel under pressure when I went to Liverpool but I played 37 out of 42 league games in my first season.
“I always felt I had a point to prove, the whole time I was there, but that was my driving force. The backroom staff, Joe Fagan, Ronnie Moran, Reuben Bennett, the manager, who was brilliant. I really felt like they taught me how to play the game. If you could keep them quiet on the touchline, you knew you were doing something right.
“They turned me into a Liverpool player. They knew how to get the best out of me. It was very different to Newcastle.
“We were helter skelter, there was chaos, we were always trying to score more goals than the opposition, rather than worry too much about how many conceded. It was very entertaining, but we didn’t win trophies, we weren’t consistent enough.
“Going to Liverpool, it felt like this is what football is all about. I went from a club that never won anything to one that couldn’t stop winning. Newcastle were a team and a club that I always felt could go places and win things, but until you go to a club like Liverpool, you don’t truly understand what it takes.
“It wasn’t just about putting on the black and white shirt for me, playing for my team, it was always about winning things. Once you get that winning mentality, it is hard to lose. That’s what Liverpool did. They knew how to cope with being the favourites, they knew how to buy, not just the best players, but those with the right attitudes. We didn’t have that mentality at Newcastle and maybe that’s why players have thought they needed to leave – and why they might still feel they do.”
‘I hope people remember me for what I did’
Yet, despite all that success, Kennedy still has some regrets. There is some bitterness about only winning two England caps. “I should have had more recognition from the outside world and by that I mean the people who selected the national team.
“I sat in the dressing room at Liverpool, there were five or six players regularly representing England, but I wasn’t one of them.”
But, mainly, there is just a great sense of pride. “Football was my life. It was never about the money for me, it wasn’t then, it was all about what you have done, what you have achieved and what you are remembered for.
“Look, we are all going to die one day and it is what you leave behind. I like to think I’ve left some sort of legacy, I hope people remember me for what I did.
“I loved every minute of it, I’m happy with my life and what I achieved. I put the hard work in, I’ve got no regrets. I won the lot with Liverpool, that was the most important thing. It was a great journey.”
So, who does Kennedy think will win the League Cup final? “That’s a hard one for me, but it’s about time Newcastle won one isn’t it? Be great for the city and people if they do. Liverpool are an excellent side though. The best in the country. It’s probably the perfect final for me, I’ll be happy whoever wins.”
