Alan Kennedy: “I never THOUGHT it would come down to me”

As the 35th Anniversary of the ’84 European Cup Final approaches, I sat down with Alan Kennedy to discuss that night, his career and his opinions on today’s Liverpool team.

30th May 1984, Stadio Olimpico, Rome, the European Cup Final. Alan Kennedy is stood in the tunnel, third in line behind Captain Graeme Souness and Goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar. The Liverpool team is set, on time and ready. The Italians? Well, they are nowhere to be seen. Mind games, the Romans are toying with the Reds.

A night of history awaits, one that would live in the players and Liverpool fans minds forever, and this is how it started, in a hot, sweaty tunnel in the middle of the capital of Italy.

With quite honestly the most peculiar idea, the Reds decided hit back at the Romans games.

“We just started to sing a song,” said Kennedy with a chuckle and started to show me his best Chris Rea rendition, dance included. In his full LFC tracksuit, Kennedy is hard to stop once he gets reminiscing about those times.

“Chris Rea, great guy, so we’re all singing, this is in the tunnel, they haven’t even come down, out of their room so, we’re all singing.

As the Italians came down through and into the tunnel, Kennedy states they were in “shock” and gave off an air of “anger that we were embarrassing them”.

It was certainly a surreal way to begin one of the greatest nights in your football career.

“Playing in Rome, winning the trophy, was probably the biggest thing we could do, because of the circumstances and the way it went down. Look, when I signed for Liverpool I didn’t know how it would go, you just can’t can you? So, when I signed in August ’78 you just think okay well I might make a couple of finals, you know Liverpool had just won the European Cup and the more you played to more you felt, this is what it’s all about.”

Kennedy had previously won the European cup with Liverpool in ’81 where he scored the winning and only goal, but Kennedy says his penalty put away was much sweeter on that night in Rome.

“There was a lot more tension in the penalty shootout, today everything is decided on, its done and dusted but in those days, nobody knew who was going to take a penalty. It depended on the players who were left on the pitch.”

“Joe Fagan, the manager at the time, he said basically, who wants the take a penalty? Nobody, nobody’s bothered. He literally went around some players and then he’s looked at Kenny Dalglish and asked him but he hadn’t realised, Kenny had been substituted. He’s got two players left and one of them is me and the other is our goalkeeper. He’s looked at the two of as gone (shakes head). He’s no idea who to pick!”

Of course, Fagan had no choice but to give the number five penalty duties to Kennedy.

“I never ever thought it would come down to me. Anyway, as I was putting the ball down on the spot, my hands were shaking, my legs were even worse. I was a strong player in my legs but I swear to god, I was shaking. I was walking back and looked up, and I tell you this is true, I looked up and all the Liverpool players were like ‘oh my god, why’d you pick him’. And you think, I can’t let them down, I can’t let the fans at the other side of the pitch down and I can’t let the fans who are back home down.

“We had one go at penalties before, and we were terrible, the managers said it would never come down to penalties so don’t worry and here we are. So, I’m thinking to myself, bottom right that’s my ideal spot you know, I’m left-footed player, send it away from the keeper.

“I did the five steps and bang, it went in. But the other corner.

“When the ball hit the back of the net you know, I was just running, just running and then I thought I’m going to do a cartwheel.”

He didn’t.

“I wanted to as the players were running at me, I wanted to but, in the end, I just did this.”

Kennedy proceeds to jumps up and down on the spot as if he’s living in that moment.

With all his triumphs, Kennedy believes this current LFC team can win trophies but it needs to start doing so, sooner rather than later.

 “Winning your first trophy, that’s the important side of it.”

 “Experience, without doubt is the most important thing. “

 Kennedy will be hoping that Liverpool can summon the spirit his team showed in the 84’ European Cup Final and bring home a trophy to Merseyside this year.