NewsLiverpool's Greatest - No.36: Ray Kennedy
Years: 1974-1981
Appearances: 393
Goals: 72
Trophies: First Division (1975-76, 1976-77, 1978-79, 1979-80, 1981-82), UEFA Cup (1976), European Cup (1977, 1978, 1981), UEFA Super Cup (1977), League Cup (1981)
Ray Kennedy joined Liverpool at a sliding doors moment in club history, and a change for him too helped keep the trophies coming to Anfield.
A centre-forward at previous club Arsenal, the Englishman signed for the Reds on the same day in July 1974 that Bill Shankly announced the end of his revolutionary tenure as manager.
“Kennedy will cause plenty of trouble to defences,” promised Shankly. “He fights all the way and he was at the top of my list of my wanted men.
“Maybe it will be said that one of the last things I did at this club was to sign a great new player.”
As so often, Shankly was right – though, in this case, not quite how he expected.
Kennedy marked his Liverpool debut with the opening goal in a 3-0 win at Stamford Bridge, but it would prove to be a modest first campaign with the club.
It wasn’t until new boss Bob Paisley’s tactical intuition led to Kennedy moving to the left wing midway through the 1975-76 campaign that his Reds career truly took off.
That season ended with successes in the First Division and UEFA Cup, and in the five terms that followed, Kennedy’s contributions were enormous.
He played 205 of a possible 210 league games, racked up 294 matches overall, scored 49 times and assisted 44 goals.
Those years included three more league titles and three European Cups, with Kennedy supplying a pivotal away goal when Liverpool overcame Bayern Munich in the 1981 semi-finals.
Strong, quick, a battler, possessing a powerful strike and capable of finishing with either foot or his head, the No.5 was loved by Kopites.
A League Cup medal was added to his bulging honours collection in 1981 and he featured in 15 games of the title-winning 1981-82 campaign – his fifth championship at the Reds – before moving on to Swansea City.
Having experienced physical issues and fatigue during his playing career, near its end Kennedy was formally diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease – a condition that affected the rest of his life until he passed away at the age of 70 in 2021.
There was perhaps no higher praise for Kennedy than these words from Paisley: “In my view he was one of Liverpool’s greatest players and probably the most underrated.”
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