Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
LIVERPOOL LEGEND RAY DEAD AT 70
Glittering career before Parkinson’s
BLESSED with poise, grit and an uncanny ability to read the game, Ray Kennedy was one of the best footballers of his generation.
The star, who has died aged 70, had a glittering career with Liverpool and Arsenal, and won 17 caps for England.
He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1984 but despite being severely affected in later decades he managed to retain his sense of humour.
Thanks to his charity work, he met his childhood hero Muhammad Ali, who was a fellow sufferer. Talking in 2002 about the encounter, Ray joked: “[Ali] fought Henry
Cooper at Highbury and used
Arsenal’s dressing room. He must have had my peg and that’s how I got Parkinson’s.”
Ray’s ex-liverpool captain
Phil Thompson described him yesterday as “a great player and wonderful team-mate”.
The club said it is “mourning a legendary player”.
The son of a coal miner, Ray was born and brought up in Seaton Delaval, Northumberland, in 1951.
Aged 16 in 1967, he was released by Port Vale and returned to the North East where he started working in a sweet factory.
While playing for an amateur side, he was spotted by Arsenal and he signed for them in 1968. He won the league and FA Cup double in 1971. Arsenal said last night: “One of the giants of 71, Ray will be sorely missed.”
His Arsenal team-mate
Bob Wilson once said Ray “had an alarming lack of self esteem... but there was an underlying fearsome strength, an assassin’s eye and a hard-man interior”.
Bill Shankly signed Ray for Liverpool in 1974, but the arrival was overshadowed by the shock news on the same day that Shankly had decided to quit as manager.
Ray, who was converted from a striker into a midfielder, won 11 major trophies with the club, including five league titles and three European Cups.
He joined top-flight club Swansea in 1982, the same year Parkinson’s was having a noticeable effect on his game
After learning he had the condition, his career was soon over. He coached for a while before the disease took control.
Needing cash, he sold his medals in 1993 and charities helped fund medical expenses.
Years after splitting from his wife in 1987, he lived alone in a bungalow near Seaton Delaval.
Side-effects from his medication included hallucinations. He said: “I see people on the door [handle]. I think they are real and talk to them.” He had photos of himself alongside the likes of Ali and Princess Diana but the glass in the frames was smashed as he kept falling into things.
Andrew Lees, who co-wrote his book, said when Ray was young he “had a recurring dream his life would be short but glorious”. His career certainly was glorious. jeremy.armstrong@mirror.co.uk
@jeremyatmirror
VOICE OF MIRROR: PAGE 14
SEE SPORT: PAGE 59