THE CITY of Liverpool bade farewell to a favourite adopted son at the funeral of former Everton great Howard Kendall.
Born in County Durham as the son of a miner, Kendall found fame first as a player with the Toffees in the 1960s and then oversaw the greatest period in the club’s history as manager from 1981 to 1987.
Thousands of fans and football luminaries gathered at Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral to pay tribute to Kendall, who died 13 days ago at the age of 69.
Everton players from the past 50 years, including Wayne Rooney, were among those in attendance along with famous names from across the world of football.
The red half of the city was represented by Robbie Fowler and Jamie Carragher, while Alex Ferguson was also in the congregation to listen to Kendall remembered as Everton’s greatest manager and an inspirational presence on and off the pitch.
The service was open to fans but the 1,700 seats quickly filled up and hundreds more gathered outside the gates where proceedings were broadcast via loudspeakers.
Yet more fans gathered at Goodison Park and the funeral cortege did a lap of the ground on its way to the cathedral, pausing by the statue of Dixie Dean.
The cortege arrived at the cathedral just before 1pm and was greeted by warm applause.
Peter Reid was a key member of Kendall’s great Everton team of the 1980s and later worked with him and then succeeded him as manager of Manchester City.
Reid said: “He was just a really warm human being and that’s why we’re here. I was just proud to play for him, and then I was lucky enough to work with him on the other side at Manchester City to get an insight of a man who had a great knowledge of the game.
“The memory that sticks with me is the first trophy, the FA Cup final, walking down the steps and just seeing him smile, and that will live with me forever.”
Reid and fellow Everton stalwarts Joe Royle and Graham Stuart gave eulogies while Duncan Ferguson did a reading and Everton chairman Bill Kenwright paid his own heartfelt tribute to Kendall.
Kendall won the league title with Everton as a player in 1970 as part of the famous ‘Holy Trinity’ along with Alan Ball and Colin Harvey, but undoubtedly his best achievements came when he returned to Goodison Park as manager.
Within four years he had won the First Division championship, repeating the feat in 1987, while also winning the FA Cup and European Cup-Winners’ Cup.
Kendall began his career with Preston and also played for Birmingham, Stoke and Blackburn while his managerial posts included Blackburn, Athletic Bilbao, Manchester City, Notts County, Sheffield United and Greek sides Xanthi and Ethnikos Piraeus.
