Howard Kendall - Career in Management

Career in Management

In June 1979 Kendall was appointed player-manager of Blackburn Rovers and took the team into the Second Division in the 1979–80 season. Success continued the following season when Rovers narrowly missed out on promotion to the First Division on goal difference.

In May 1981 Kendall returned to Everton as player-manager, although he only played four games before finally retiring as a player. Initially he struggled and was on the verge of being sacked in January 1984 when results began to pick up with Everton reaching the League Cup final (losing to Liverpool) and winning the FA Cup (beating Watford) at the end of the season. In the 1984–85 season, Everton won the League Championship, finishing 13 points clear of runners-up Liverpool, and the European Cup-Winners' Cup, defeating Austrian side Rapid Vienna, and reached the final of the FA Cup. Everton narrowly failed to win both the League and the FA Cup in 1985–86 – second in both to Liverpool – but in 1986–87 won the League again, nine points clear of Liverpool, as the Merseyside clubs continued their stranglehold on the English game.

During his first spell at Goodison Park, he built an almost entirely new team which proved itself as one of the finest of the whole decade. He brought in younger players such as Peter Reid and Trevor Steven from smaller clubs to give them the opportunity to prove that they could compete at the highest level, and was largely successful. He also brought in "name" players such as Andy Gray, who was instrumental in a season and a half after joining them in late 1983, his goals transforming a struggling side into FA Cup winners and then league champions and European Cup Winners' Cup winners. He then sold Gray to Aston Villa and brought in Gary Lineker who scored more than 30 goals in the 1985–86 season and established himself as a world class striker before his transfer to FC Barcelona.

Kendall left Everton in 1987, frustrated by the ban from Europe of English clubs, to manage Athletic Bilbao in Spain. He was not a great success at Bilbao, hindered by limitations on the players he could sign for the Basque club. He turned down an offer to manage Newcastle United to remain in Spain, but was sacked on 15 November 1989 after a poor run of results, and speculation began immediately about where his next job would be. There were frequent reports that he would be the next England manager when Bobby Robson eventually departed.

On 7 December 1989, he returned to England as manager of Manchester City and secured their survival with a comfortable 14th place finish.

With the announcement in late May that Bobby Robson would step down as England manager after the 1990 World Cup, Kendall's name was inevitably mentioned by the press as a likely successor, However, he quickly dismissed the speculation and declined an offer by the Football Association to be interviewed for the role, which ultimately went to Graham Taylor.

He returned to Everton for a second spell as manager on 7 November 1990 following the sacking of Colin Harvey, who was re-appointed to the club as his assistant. This was despite the fact he had built a strong Manchester City side that was near the top of the First Division table, and had only just held their cross city rivals Manchester United to a thrilling 3-3 draw at Maine Road. He famously justified the move by saying that Manchester City was just an affair, but Everton was his marriage. By this stage Everton were battling against relegation to the Second Division, but he turned their season around and they managed to finish ninth and also reach the FA Cup quarter-finals, defeating Liverpool in the fifth round. Despite the subsequent acquisition of players like Mo Johnston and Peter Beardsley, Everton remained little more than a mid table side during Kendall's second spell and he resigned on 4 December 1993.

After leaving Everton for the second time, Kendall took charge of Greek club Xanthi for a short and largely unsuccessful period. In January 1995 Kendall returned to English football, taking over at First Division Notts County. The Magpies were struggling badly after a nightmare start to the season, but under Kendall's leadership there was an improvement, with County winning their first two games under his tenure. However, a series of rows with chairman Derek Pavis led to Kendall being sacked in April 1995 – exactly why has never been fully clarified. The Magpies poor form continued after his departure and the team were relegated to Division Two at the end of the season.

Subsequently, Kendall joined Sheffield United in December 1995, saving the club from relegation and then taking them to the 1997 play-off final, which was lost to Crystal Palace.

Kendall then returned to Everton for third time as manager in August 1997, but left the club by mutual consent at the end of the season having only managed to avoid relegation on the final day of the season. His third spell was beset by turmoil within the club, working for then Chairman, Peter Johnson. Kendall remains a widely respected and loved figure within Everton Football Club.

Kendall moved to Greek side Ethnikos Piraeus, but was sacked in March 1999 after only four months in charge and with the club eight points adrift at the bottom of the Greek First Division. It remains Kendall's last role in football management, although in 2001 he revealed that he had "had offers" from a number of English clubs which he rejected, and he expressed interest in the Republic of Ireland managers' job, which was eventually given to Giovanni Trapattoni. He remains the last English manager to win a European competition with an English club. Kendall was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2005 in recognition of his contribution as a manager to the English game.