Brian Kettle (born 22 April 1956 in Prescot) is an English former footballer who played as a left-back. Kettle began his career with

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 popul ...

, signing professional forms in 1973. He was to remain at

Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892. ...

for seven years, but could never rise above reserve level. He was very successful in the

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

, however, captaining the side for many years, as it won five

Central League The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League in the annual Japan Series. It currently consist ...

titles, and three Liverpool Senior Cups. He could never break into the first-team, however, only making four appearances before departing in 1980. He then signed for

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

, but was released after one year, dropping into non league football with

Burscough Burscough () is a town and civil parish in West Lancashire in the ceremonial county of Lancashire, England. It is located to the north of Ormskirk and northwest of Skelmersdale. The parish also includes the hamlet of Tarlscough and the Martin M ...

and

Barrow Barrow may refer to: Places England * Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria ** Borough of Barrow-in-Furness, local authority encompassing the wider area ** Barrow and Furness (UK Parliament constituency) * Barrow, Cheshire * Barrow, Gloucestershire * Barro ...

. He later moved into management, taking charge of South Liverpool, Southport,

Stalybridge Celtic Stalybridge Celtic Football Club is an English football club based in Stalybridge, Greater Manchester. They are currently members of the and play at Bower Fold. The team traditionally plays in a blue and white strip. In 1921 Stalybridge Celtic ...

and Rhyl. In July 2010 Kettle joined A.F.C. Liverpool as assistant reserve team manager.

Managerial career

Southport

After several seasons with South Liverpool, Kettle was appointed manager at Southport, and was instrumental in one of the most successful periods at Haig Avenue. After three seasons the Kettle's team were showing real promise. Cup finals and victories in them soon followed, however league performance ultimately suffered finishing 7th, 5th and 7th again. The 1992–93 season was one of the most important seasons in the clubs recent history. Southport impressively won the league with 96 points and once again scoring 100 goals and tasted success in two more cup competitions and an excellent

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 ...

run took them through to the second round proper for the first time since 1968. After proving the ground was up to scratch the club were duly promoted back to the top flight of non-league football the

Vauxhall Conference The National League (named Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons) is an association football league in England consisting of three divisions, the National League, National League North, and National League South. It was called the ...

. After a promising first season which saw the club finish fourth and only nine points off champions Kidderminster Harries followed by another a Kettle shocked the town with his resignation in March 1995 citing personal reasons with

Billy Ayre William Ayre (7 May 1952 – 16 April 2002) was an English footballer who played for three clubs in a sixteen-year professional career, making over three hundred League appearances in the process. After retiring from the playing side of the gam ...

appointed to oversee and cement the third-place finish.

References

External links

LFC history player profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kettle, Brian 1956 births Living people Liverpool F.C. players Houston Hurricane players Dallas Tornado players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Northwich Victoria F.C. managers Barrow A.F.C. players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Southport F.C. managers Association football fullbacks English footballers English expatriate footballers Expatriate soccer players in the United States English football managers English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Stalybridge Celtic F.C. managers Rhyl F.C. managers South Liverpool F.C. managers Burscough F.C. players