When Mark Kennedy signed for Liverpool 27 years ago today, it was anticipated that he would provide the missing balance for Roy Evans’ team.
When injuries forced John Barnes to shift from left flank to central midfield, a protracted hunt for a new wing wizard ended in 1995 at Millwall Football Club.
“Mark can play wide-left or up forward. He is comfortable receiving the ball, can get past people, and is a good passer.
“Mark decides when he joins the first team. He needs to settle in, but once he begins doing his stuff, I won’t be hesitant to play him.”
Millwall’s manager, Mick McCarthy, was distraught.
He remarked, “It tears my heart to watch him go, but I wasn’t willing to stand in his path, even if I could.
Offers like the one he had this week are possibly once in a lifetime, and I wish him the best of luck in dealing with the expectations of his new job at Anfield.
High hopes were placed on the midfielder since he scored the goal that knocked Arsenal out of the FA Cup just two months prior, and he got off to a strong start.
Slamming a long-range shot off the crossbar against Leeds United on his debut.
However, if Liverpool fans viewed that as a portent of things to come, the opposite was actually true.
Kennedy made only four games for Liverpool in his first season, before fading into obscurity for the remainder of his Anfield career.
For the next three seasons. The winger made only one more league start for the Reds and 11 substitute appearances.
Many people wondered why Roy Evans had spent so much money on a player and then used him so little.
It’s 29 years to the day since Liverpool paid a £1.5 million price to bring Mark Kennedy to Anfield, which was then a British record fee for a teen.
while Kennedy checked in as a Red, he said: “Like a lot of other lads from Dublin, Liverpool was the team for me when I was growing up – I think I inherited it from my father – and I didn’t need to be asked twice when Roy Evans contacted the club about me.”
I believe I have developed significantly, both intellectually and physically, since moving to London, but it was still a dream come true when Liverpool approached me with an offer.”
With his Liverpool career presumably gone, Kennedy went on loan to Queens Park Rangers for two months in the second part of the 1997/97 season, making eight appearances and scoring two goals.
At the end of the season, he signed for Wimbledon for £1.75 million.
A brief stay with the Dons was followed by a term with Manchester City, but Kennedy found better satisfaction when he moved down to the First Division to join Wolverhampton Wanderers before the start of the 2001/02 season.
He made 167 league games for Molineux over four successful seasons before joining Crystal Palace on a free transfer, his fourth London club.
After a year with the Eagles, he moved to Cardiff City at the age of 32, where he played in key matches that nearly propelled the Bluebirds to the Premier League.
After nearly missing out on a play-off position in the 2008/09 season, Kennedy scored the game-winning penalty in a semi-final shootout against Leicester City after the two teams had drawn 3-3.
He would start as left-back against Blackpool in the final, but despite Cardiff leading twice.
The Seasiders won 3-2, with one goal coming from Charlie Adam, a future Liverpool player.
Kennedy moved to East Anglia with Roy Keane’s Ipswich Town in a £75,000 trade, marking the end of his playing career.
He appeared in both legs of the Tractor Boys’ League Cup semi-final against Arsenal, but a 3-1 aggregate loss meant he never made it back to Wembley.
After hanging up his boots, he joined the Portman Road coaching team.
Kennedy came into management in January 2020, taking charge at Macclesfield Town, which has since been liquidated.
In a season marred by Covid-19, he played only 12 games before resigning as the Silkmen suffered a points deduction and were demoted back to the National League.
Following a brief return to Ipswich Town, Kennedy worked as an assistant head coach for Birmingham City in the Championship under Lee Bowyer before taking over as manager of Lincoln until his dismissal in October last year.
Kennedy‘s Liverpool career may have stalled since signing 29 years ago today, but his love of English football appears to have remained constant throughout the last three decades.
Not bad for a youngster from Belvedere Boys Club.
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