First-team coach Duncan Ferguson and Everton ambassador Graham Stuart paid their own personal tributes while Peter Reid, a member of the all-conquering 1985 side, hailed Kendall as “the greatest manager in Everton’s history” and hailed his former boss among the game’s modern pioneers, before adding: “The smile on his face was worth everything”.
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Hundreds converged outside the cathedral, just as they had lined the route of Goodison Park as Kendall’s funeral cortege returned to the stadium for one final time.
There were 1700 people who turned up to pay respects to Kendall who died on 17 October at the age of 69.
Within four years he had won the First Division championship, repeating the feat in 1987, while also winning the FA Cup and European Cup-Winners’ Cup. Former Everton managers Gordon Lee, Joe Royle and Colin Harvey, who was also part of Everton’s famed “Holy Trinity” midfield alongside Kendall and the late Alan Ball, were in attendance with the current manager, Roberto Martínez, and the club’s entire playing staff from academy to senior level.
But he left a touching tribute on Everton’s official website.
He said: “He loved Everton, and we loved him”. That’s what made him great; the greatest manager in the history of our football club. He understood us. He understood Everton. He loved the camaraderie, the team. He would love the fact that you all came. I was just proud to play for him, and then I was lucky enough to work with him on the other side at Manchester City to get an insight of a man who had a great knowledge of the game. “He wasn’t just a manager; he was one of the boys and that’s why I thought the world of him”.
The order of service, which featured pictures of Kendall from throughout his footballing career, had a message of thanks from his wife Lily on the back.
Kendall’s cortege was decorated with a floral tribute reading “gaffer”. He said: “He was a tremendous lad to play on the pitch with and great company off it”.
However, as Dalglish will not be able to attend Howard Kendall’s funeral today, questions were going to be asked as to his whereabouts and that has prompted the King’s family to comment via the local media.
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RIP Howard Kendall. A hero of both myself and my dad before me. His passing is very sad and he will be a big miss in the football community. His achievements as both a player and a manager for Everton set the standard to which everyone continues to aspire.
