Ray Kennedy

Ray Kennedy was born on 28 July 1951 in Seaton Delaval, a former pit village in Northumberland, to Martin and Veronica Kennedy, a coal miner and housewife, respectively. He was the eldest of four children: Trevor, Michael, and Janet. He was spotted playing schoolboy football by a scout at Port Vale and began training at Vale Park after manager Stanley Matthews came to the Kennedy home to persuade him to sign schoolboy forms at the club. However, at the age of 16 Matthews felt Kennedy was "too slow to be a footballer". Kennedy was considered to be too big and clumsy to be a professional, and groundskeeper Dennis Dawson said he was the only man at the club to see any potential in the youngster. The club released him after being told that he would never make it as a professional. Kennedy returned to his native north-east in March 1967 and started working in a sweet factory whilst playing as an amateur for New Hartley Juniors, where he built a successful attacking partnership with former England schoolboy international Ian Watts. The pair scored 142 goals between them and helped the club to win the East Northumberland Junior League, the Northumberland FA Junior Cup, the East Northumberland Junior League Cup, the North East Youth Challenge Cup, the East Northumberland Junior League Charlton Trophy, the Tynemouth Junior League Challenge Cup and the Magpie Trophy.

Arsenal

Kennedy was spotted by Arsenal playing for New Hartley Juniors. Though the scouts had initially gone…

Kennedy won six England under-23 caps, following his first appearance in a win over Wales at the County Ground on 5 January 1972. Don Revie gave Kennedy his first cap on 24 March 1976 in a friendly with Wales at the Racecourse Ground, Wrexham; Kennedy scored the opening goal as England won the game 2–1. However, he was never able to establish himself as England's left-sided midfielder of choice due to the form of Trevor Brooking. He played in British Home Championship games against Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland, before he was dropped for the next seven games. He travelled with the squad for the 1977 tour of South America, and also that year claimed two more international goals in qualifying games against Luxembourg. He then dropped out of the England picture under new manager Ron Greenwood. He was named in the squad for UEFA Euro 1980 in Italy, playing against Belgium and Italy before he was dropped for England's final group game against Spain. He retired from international football on 17 caps in March 1981, citing dissatisfaction with the England hierarchy. Liverpool manager Bob Paisley wrote in his autobiography that "for England he [Kennedy] was played quite wrongly in a defensive role, being asked to pick people up. Ray closes people down by positional skill and does not need to chase around the pitch". Kennedy stated that "I feel more pride in the red jersey of Liverpool than the white shirt of England" and that "I am resigning here and now as Greenwood's…

Kennedy was a strong player with average speed, good technical ability, and an excellent first touch. Arsenal coach Don Howe compared Kennedy to Tommy Lawton, and stated that Kennedy had "all the hallmarks of a classical centre forward, size, strength, bravery and skill, heading ability and a powerful left-foot shot". He had a good temperament and could not be provoked by harsh opposition challenges. A psychological examination conducted on behalf of Arsenal revealed that Kennedy rated highly for his ability to respond to coaching; was rated above average for aggressiveness, determination, guilt-proneness (accepting responsibility for the team); was scored average for drive/ambition, self-confidence, emotional control, and mental toughness; and scored below average for leadership, conscientiousness, and trust. Arsenal goalkeeper Bob Wilson said that Kennedy "had an alarming lack of self esteem... but there was an underlying fearsome strength, an assassin's eye and a hard-man interior". After Liverpool manager Bob Paisley moved Kennedy into midfield, he said that "Ray Kennedy was born to play. A natural, great ability and an obvious Liverpool player who could be moulded. I knew he could play anywhere." He showed minor signs of Parkinson's disease as early as 1970, such as fatigue after games and slowed movement in his right arm, though it was not until 1982 that it began to have a noticeable effect on his game.

Kennedy was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease by a specialist on 4 November 1984. He permitted his image to be used to promote a public campaign to increase awareness of the disease. His involvement in the Parkinson's Disease Society led to him meeting his childhood hero Muhammad Ali. He was also invited to do some coaching at Sunderland in the 1986–87 season by manager Lawrie McMenemy, and worked as a part-time coach from February to April 1987. At this point, he was promoted to first-team coach. His wife, Jennifer, left him in October 1987 after he punched her in the face and kicked her down the stairs of the family home; this ended a difficult 15-year marriage blighted by frequent infidelity on his part. They had two children: Cara (born July 1976) and Dale (born January 1981). Former Liverpool teammate Ray Clemence recalled how Kennedy "worked hard and played hard". Other teammates Steve Heighway and Phil Thompson noted that Kennedy was a "quiet man", though "women were always chasing after him" and "off the pitch he needed to be handled quite gently, and everything had to be organised just right otherwise there would be trouble". Completing a bad end to 1987, his licence at the Melton Constable was revoked. His prescribed L-DOPA medication also became less effective and he became increasingly isolated. His condition improved when he began injections of apomorphine. He was reliant on the Professional Footballers' Association to pay his medical expenses, and his divorce…