ALAN KENNEDY The famous ex-Liverpool star who also played for Barrow
If ever a football player could be said to have had it all, that player is Alan Kennedy. For not only did he play for Barrow, he is the holder of five League Championships, three FA Cup winners' medals and two European Cup winners' shields. As if that wasn't enough, he also scored the winning goals in the two European Cup Finals in which he appeared. Sadly, none of those achievements happened while he was a Barrow player. The rest of the football world will remember him as a member of the Liverpool team in the early 1980's. It was with that all-conquering side that he won every major honour the game has to offer. Fans of Newcastle will also remember that Alan started his career in the North East in 1972, playing in the famous black and white stripes for six years before making the move to Liverpool which, at the time, set a record transfer fee of £330,000 for a British player. After seven seasons at Anfield he had spells with Sunderland, Hartlepool, Wigan Athletic, Colne Dynamos and Wrexham, where he played his 500th League game, before retiring from football in 1990 at the age of 36. But his greatest triumph was still to come. (Are you sure about this? Ed). In 1994, after a spell in management at Netherfield, Alan decided to follow the A590 to see where it went and ended up in Barrow. And what better place could there be to bring down the curtain on your illustrious football career than Holker St? Alan is now a speaker on the after dinner circuit. He's very good and very funny. If you get a chance to see him, don't miss it. Give 'Em Beans! caught up with him at a recent Sportsmans' Dinner. We thought it would be a good idea to ask him if he'd like to do a little reminiscing with us. So after he'd finished his excellent speech, your intrepid, would-be interviewer approached the stage, pen and paper in hand, introduced himself and started with his best question Excuse me, Mr. Kennedy, I'm a Barrow supporter and I wondered if you could spare me twenty minutes or so to talk about the time you spent at Barrow, for an article in the next issue of our fanzine? Yes, of course, I'd be delighted. What can I tell you? Well, to start at the beginning, how did you come to join Barrow? The manager at the time was Tony Hesketh who'd been my assistant at Netherfield the season before. At the start of the 1994 season Barrow's defence was letting in quite a few goals [eight in the first three games. Ed.]. so he was looking around for a defender to improve things. He gave me a call, asked if I'd like to turn out for the club and I was pleased to be able to help an old friend and just to go out and enjoy myself. [Alan made his debut for Barrow on 3 September 1994 in the fifth league game of the season away at Gainsborough Trinity. Barrow lost 4-3. Ed.]. Did you know anything about Barrow, other than Tony Hesketh being manager? My brother, Keith, played for Barrow in the 1980's [Keith Kennedy was one of Vic Halom's first signings in 1983 and was a vital member of the squad that won the NPL title that season. In 1984-85, our first season back in the Conference, Keith Kennedy was the National Supporters' Club Player of the Year. Ed.]. I remember him telling me that Barrow was a great club to play for. So I was quite looking forward to joining them and playing regularly again. How did you feel after the first few games? To be honest, it didn't go too well and results were poor. I played in five out of the next six games. We won two, drew one and lost three. So Tony rang me and said he didn't think it was working out, legs not so good and all that, and we agreed to call it a day. What happened then? I think there had been a couple of injuries, so two weeks later Tony asked me if I could come back. [Actually, due to the departure of Glen Skivington to Holker Old Boys, Hesketh felt he was short of experience at the back. Ed]. Immediately after I rejoined, Barrow had a good spell losing only once in seven league games. I think I had the third or fourth highest number of appearances that season, which I was quite pleased about. Not bad for a forty-year old! Do you remember any of the other players from your time at Barrow? Who did you think were the best players? There were some good players. The goalkeeper, Andy Johnston, a young lad from Preston, defender... Farrell Kilbane? That's right, Kilbane. And of course up front there was Mark Dobie and Andy Whittaker. He was a good striker, Whittaker. Didn't always work and graft at his game, but he was quick. And Tony Hesketh was a very good manager. Did you meet Billy Kenny? What did you think about him? He really was a superb player, super skills, but other things destroyed him. It was a great shame. Despite Billy's off the pitch problems, I think Stephen Vaughan wanted him to play in every game because of the amount of money he was paying him. Do you have any particular memories of any of your games for Barrow? Yes, the one and only booking and fine I ever got during the whole of my career happened while I was at Barrow. It was in one of the early games [his second for Barrow, at home against Horwich RMI. Ed.]. I was taking a throw-in but no-one would come near me. I kept shouting at them to get a bit closer but no one moved. Finally, the ref [Mr C Foy of St. Helens] thought I was time-wasting so he blew his whistle and I threw the ball away. That was when he booked me. He sent his report off to the FA and I got a letter from them saying I wasn't registered to play in English football. My registration was still with Wrexham and lodged with the Welsh FA! So they fined me £50. Any other memories? The game against Marine at Holker St. We lost 3-0 and I was dropped again! And my last game for Barrow and what turned out to be my last competitive match. I think it was at Leek. Tony Hesketh asked me to mark their tricky right winger. [It was at Witton Albion on 17 April 1995. Barrow won 3-0 and the tricky opponent was ex-Barrow forward, Paul Higginbotham. Ed.]. I told Tony I didn't have the legs to mark a youngster who was going to run at me for the entire ninety minutes. Fortunately, the lad didn't have a very good game. I've only played charity matches since then. Did you ever notice some of the supporters' criticisms of the players when you were on the pitch, especially at Holker St? I never noticed the supporters getting at the players particularly. I never heard any personal criticism. The two front men, Whittaker and Dobie, tended to get slagged off, but then forwards always do. The supporters were always great, especially at away games. During your spell at Barrow, Stephen Vaughan began his involvement with the club which culminated in him becoming owner and chairman. Did you meet him? Yes, he bought the club from Bill McCullough, didn't he? Bill was a great guy and I was sad to hear that he'd passed away. Stephen Vaughan really got the club moving. I think Bill felt he'd taken it as far as he could and he recognised that it needed a large cash injection to get it back into the non-League elite. Stephen Vaughan has got it moving with the new grandstand and improvements to the ground. There's just that Sports and Leisure Club end to sort out. That's always looked strange; too close to the pitch. And Owen Brown? I know Owen, too. He was one of the younger players at Liverpool when I was there in the early 1980's. He's done really well for Barrow. What do you think our chances are for this season? It's all there to play for. Barrow are, what is it, eight or ten points clear at the top of the league and into the quarter finals of the FA Trophy. Owen's building a really good team up there, I hope they progress. Is there anything you didn't like about playing for Barrow? Nothing about playing. The only thing I didn't like was travelling to the town for home games. What did someone call that road? The longest cul de sac in the world? It used to take nearly an hour from the M6. All the players who lived out of town used to stop in a pub on their way home, I think it was the Dixon's Arms, to talk about the game, things we could improve, where we went wrong and things like that. Did you enjoy your time at Barrow? I enjoyed it enormously. The club had, still has, great potential, with the ground, the new grandstand and the fans. Barrow has the biggest potential of all the non-League clubs in the North West. I've got very fond memories of playing there. It's a great club, it had a real family atmosphere, a family club. I loved playing football at Barrow. Thank you very much. Not at all, thank you. I've enjoyed talking about it. I've got good memories of Barrow and I hope they do well. Never in the field of human endeavour has someone given of their time so generously to someone they'd never met before for a fanzine they didn't even know existed. After all, if you'd just given a speech to 250 people the first thing you'd want would be a pint of lager. Spending another 25 minutes giving an interview would be just about the last thing on your mind. So our special thanks to Alan Kennedy for talking to us. We wish him the very best of luck with his new radio and television career. Issue 034 - April 1998