Alan Kennedy (born 31 August 1954) is an English former professional footballer who played the majority of his career as a left back for Newcastle United and then

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

. He was a stalwart member of the latter team that won many honours from the late 1970s to the mid-1980s. In all Kennedy was active as a professional in England, Denmark, Belgium and Wales, making over 500 appearances in a career that lasted for 22 years. He also represented England at senior international level. He is the uncle of the former professional footballer

Tom Kennedy Thomas or Tom Kennedy may refer to: Politics *Thomas Kennedy (Scottish judge) (1673–1754), joint Solicitor General for Scotland 1709–14, Lord Advocate 1714, Member of Parliament for Ayr Burghs 1720–21 * Thomas Kennedy, 9th Earl of Cassilis ...

Club career

Born in Sunderland, Kennedy started his professional career at age 18 for Newcastle United. After establishing his place in the side he played there for five years. He was a member of the team that lost the

1974 FA Cup Final The 1974 FA Cup Final was an association football match between Liverpool and Newcastle United on Saturday, 4 May 1974 at Wembley Stadium, London. It was the final match of the 1973–74 FA Cup, the 93rd season of England's primary cup competiti ...

to Liverpool. In 1978 he was transferred to Liverpool for £330,000, at the time a British record amount for a full back. Kennedy scored in the 1981 League Cup Final again West Ham, which ended 1–1 and was won by Liverpool in the replay. He scored the equalising goal with 15 minutes left in the game in the 1983 League Cup Final against Manchester United, a match Liverpool went on to win in extra time. Kennedy was on two other League Cup winning teams with Liverpool, in 1982 (against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

) and

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

(against Everton). In the

1981 European Cup Final The 1981 European Cup Final was an association football match between Liverpool of England and Real Madrid of Spain on 27 May 1981 at the Parc des Princes, Paris, France. It was the final match of the 1980–81 season of Europe's premier cup com ...

against Real Madrid, Kennedy scored the only goal of the match late in the second half. The

1984 European Cup Final The 1984 European Cup Final was an association football match between Liverpool of England and Roma of Italy on 30 May 1984 at the Stadio Olimpico, Rome, Italy. It was the final match of the 1983–84 season of Europe's premier cup competition, ...

between Liverpool and Roma was tied at 1–1 after extra time, so the winner was determined by penalty kicks. Kennedy scored the decisive penalty (the fifth taken by the team, the fourth that was successful) that clinched the victory for Liverpool. Kennedy was a regular player on the Liverpool teams that won five league championship titles, in 1978–79, 1979–80, 1981–82, 1982–83 and 1983–84.

International career

He also earned two caps for the England national team in 1984.

Personal life

In 2019 and 2020, Kennedy featured as a guest substitute player in both seasons of ITV show Harry's Heroes, which featured former football manager Harry Redknapp attempting get a squad of former England international footballers back fit and healthy for a game against Germany legends.https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11559664/

Honours

;Newcastle United *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

: Runner up 1974 *

Texaco Cup The Texaco Cup, officially known as the International League Board Competition, was an association football competition started in 1970, involving sides from England, Scotland, and Ireland that had not qualified for European competitions. It wa ...

: 1974/75 *

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

: Runner up

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 ...

;Liverpool * Football League First Division (5): 1978–79, 1979–80, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84 *

(4):

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

, 1982,

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

* Charity Shield (3):

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...

, 1980, 1982 * European Cup (2):

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, Alan 1954 births Footballers from Sunderland Living people Association football defenders English footballers England international footballers England under-23 international footballers Newcastle United F.C. players Liverpool F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players Boldklubben 1903 players K. Beerschot V.A.C. players Northwich Victoria F.C. players Wrexham A.F.C. players Colne Dynamoes F.C. players Morecambe F.C. players Kendal Town F.C. players Radcliffe F.C. players Barrow A.F.C. players English Football League players English expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Denmark English expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Expatriate footballers in Belgium English expatriate sportspeople in Belgium UEFA Champions League winning players FA Cup Final players