98: Mark Kennedy, Liverpool, Merlin’s Premier League 96 Sticker Collection

We have another request post today – this time from the excellent LFC Players account. Firstly we’d like to thank them for their patience as this particular request came over a year ago around the time today’s subject was announced as the new manager of Lincoln City. For some of us though he will always be “the most expensive teenager with the dyed blonde hair”. Hope this does the trick mate.

The Football Association Challenge Cup is the oldest national football competition and, until the turn of the twenty-first century, served as the centrepiece of the English game. The ‘Magic of the Cup’™ still comes to the fore when a non-league side reaches the Third Round or a lower league club bloodies the nose of a Premier League big boy but sadly the tournament has mainly existed in recent years for those delightful ‘Big Six’ clubs to moan about as a cause of fixture congestion. Sadly this doesn’t seem to stop the buggers making a decent fist of winning it thus denying those of us outside of the elite a chance to fill a Simod/Zenith Data Systems Cup sized hole in our trophy cabinets.

It was quite refreshing back in January 2021 when Jose Mourinho named a strong Tottenham Hotspur side to face non-league Marine in the Third Round featuring the likes of Lucas Moura, Joe Hart, Dele Alli and Toby Aldeweireld. The Special One could just have easily have put out a side of youth team prospects and forgotten benchwarmers but the respect he showed to both Spurs’ opponents and the competition itself has not necessarily been a feature in recent years. This typical approach to team selection can serve many purposes to the inflated squads of the country’s ‘big clubs’. It can put some unwanted, overpaid players in the shop window, provide a convenient excuse for a shock result or, occasionally, fire someone in to the limelight sending them on their way to future success.

In January 1995 First Division Millwall held Arsenal to a goalless draw at The New Den setting up a feisty replay at Highbury. This being 1995, and with Arsenal enduring a tough season in the Premier League, the Gunners named a strong side featuring David Seaman, Lee Dixon, Ray Parlour and Ian Wright but found themselves 1-0 down to a Mark Beard goal after just ten minutes. As they chased the game in the second half the Premier League side were caught out on the break allowing an eighteen-year-old winger to stride forward unopposed from the halfway line and smash home a last minute shot to seal a famous victory for the Lions. Millwall went on to knock Chelsea out on penalties in the next round before succumbing to a last minute penalty in the Fifth Round against Queen’s Park Rangers. Shortly afterwards the aforementioned teenage wing wizard was making his way to Anfield.

Mark Kennedy moved to Liverpool for approximately £2.3m in March 1995 making him the most expensive teenage footballer in history. While this sounds like small change in today’s inflated market his new manager, Roy Evans, was a little salty about the price tag stating “basically we're buying potential even though the fee is quite high”. Evans went on to say “how soon Mark makes it to the first team is up to him. He has to settle in but as soon as he starts doing his stuff I won't be afraid to play him.” At the time Liverpool sat fifteen points behind eventual league winners Blackburn Rovers but were still in contention for silverware following a League Cup semi-final victory over Crystal Palace. Kennedy himself was elated to have made the move describing it as “the proudest moment of (his) life” and the lifelong Reds’ fan made six appearances as Liverpool finished in a creditable fourth place in the Premier League and won the League Cup.

The 1995/96 season saw Liverpool reach the FA Cup Final and finish third in the Premier League but Kennedy turned out just six times as the stellar form of Robbie Fowler, Stan Collymore and Steve McManaman kept the youngster away from the first team. He showcased his versatility in the 1996/97 season by turning out in a trendy new wing-back position but only made eight appearances as Liverpool once again finished in the top four and reached the semi-finals of the Cup Winners’ Cup. He was sent out on loan in early 1998 where he contributed two goals in eight appearances at QPR to help the Hoops stay in the First Division but found himself surplus to requirements upon his return to Anfield. After three years and just 21 first team appearances Mark Kennedy left Liverpool for Wimbledon for £1.75m.

Kennedy spent just one season at Wimbledon before moving to Manchester City for £1.6m where his ten goals helped them to promotion from the First Division. City’s subsequent relegation provoked a fire sale at Maine Road and Kennedy was moved on to Wolverhampton Wanderers where he spent five seasons, including a brief sojourn in the Premier League, and racked up 187 appearances in all competitions chipping in with fourteen goals for good measure. He moved to Crystal Palace for two fairly forgettable seasons in 2006 before joining Cardiff City in 2008. The Bluebirds reached the play-off final in his second campaign but were bested in a thrilling contest with Ian Holloway’s Blackpool. His nineteenth and twentieth professional footballing seasons were spent at Ipswich Town under the management of former Ireland team-mate Roy Keane where he moved seamlessly into the club’s coaching set up. In January 2020 he became Macclesfield Town’s manager but only took charge of twelve games as Covid-19 shortened the season. The club sadly ceased to exist due to their difficult financial situation ahead of the restart of the National League season in September 2020 and Kennedy returned to Ipswich before serving as Lee Bowyer’s assistant at Birmingham City in June 2021. He was appointed as Lincoln City’s manager ahead of the current season with the Imps currently safely ensconced in mid-table in League One.

Football’s teenage prodigies so often burst onto the scene and struggle to maintain the hype around them as their careers continue. For every Wayne Rooney there’s a John Oster, for every Michael Owen an older Michael Owen. Mark Kennedy may not have become a Liverpool legend after making history with his move from Millwall but across two decades he made 536 first team appearances in the top two flights of English football as well as earning 34 caps for the Republic of Ireland. His FA Cup exploits that brought him to fame, and eventually to Anfield, also reminded us of the ‘Magic of the Cup’. A few weeks back Blackburn got the better of Leicester City, Sheffield United ousted Tottenham Hotspur and League Two Grimsby Town bested Premier League Southampton in the fifth round. Perhaps there’s life in the old dog yet.