BIG AL’S REAL
When Kop hailed an unlikely hero
ALAN KENNEDY leans forward, squinting slightly at the tiny camera in his phone.
“I didn’t actually want the ball. I was making a run to create space,” he says.
Video chats are new to him, but the frown lines quickly disappear as he remembers what happened next.
The run did create space – for him, in the Real Madrid penalty area, with the scores level eight minutes from time. The rest is history.
He is an unlikely hero and cheerfully admits that he often doubted himself despite a career full of medals. The move from Newcastle to Liverpool put questions in his own mind, which he hilariously sums up in a story about his debut at Anfield.
“It didn’t go well. The pressure was a little bit too much for me,” he recalled.
“On the touchline, I could see (coaches) Ronnie Moran and Joe Fagan saying, ‘What have we bought here?’
“Bob Paisley, the manager who bought me, came in the dressing room at half-time.
“I was sitting there with my head in my hands. Bob came over and said, ‘Alan, I think they shot the wrong Kennedy.’ Sometimes I didn’t always have the confidence in my own ability.”
It is a strange thing to hear from a man who won two European Cup finals, scoring the goal which delivered the trophy in 1981.
Real were the kings of the European Cup, winning the first five competitions.
But they had not been back to the final since their sixth triumph in 1966, and by 1981 came into the final against a dominant Liverpool side fearful and defensive.
It made for a shocking showpiece, brutal and unrelenting, with few chances. Then that moment of destiny.
Ray Kennedy took a throw-in on the left, near the corner flag, to his namesake, Alan.
“I burst forward, lost my marker, the ball bounced, hit my chest and the defender in front made a wild swing missing everything, including me,” he says, a grin emerging.
“Suddenly it has all opened up. I’m in space in the box, sweat is running down my face. Should I cross to David Johnson in the far post area. Or I could have a go?”
Inevitably, Kennedy is asked about this moment frequently.
This time, he is fielding questions from supporters in a live Facebook link with Hotel Tia on Anfield Road, an event to help raise funds for Fans Supporting Foodbanks as they look to help struggling families in Liverpool.
“It was an instinctive moment. It just happened without really thinking about it.
“And that was probably the greatest moment – could anything else happen in my life that would take that away?”
It almost didn’t happen. Kennedy had broken his wrist in the semi-final, against Bayern Munich, and had not played since.
“Bob wasn’t going to pick me, I wasn’t in the team,” he said. “But he took the risk in the end.” Thank goodness he did.
■ “I’m not sure what I did, if I’m honest, but it flew in. Hotel Tia’s LFC live streams with LFC legends every Saturday at 7pm on Hotel Tia’s Facebook page and Youtube channel raise funds for Fans Supporting Foodbanks, Liverpool, and to help the hotel and former players during lockdown.