The Liverpool Supporters Club Gozo hosted a special guest; Alan Kennedy, a member of the great Reds side that won several honours in the late 1970s and 80s.

The former left-back visited our premises on 11th February 2010.

Kennedy started playing first for Newcastle with whom he spent six seasons, reaching the 1974 FA Cup final against his future club Liverpool and losing that match 3-0. He suffered further cup heartache in 1976 when he was again on the losing side in the League Cup final against Manchester City.

However, Kennedy’s fortunes changed dramatically in 1978 when he was signed by the legendary Liverpool manager Bob Paisley for £330,000 – a record fee for a left-back in those days. He quickly established himself in an impressive back-four that included some other greats such as Phil Neal and Alan Hansen.

With the Reds, Kennedy won five league championships, four League Cups, three Charity Shields and, most notably, two European Cup medals, in 1981 and 1984. That 1981 victory holds special significance for Kennedy as he scored the winner that helped Liverpool beat Spanish giants Real Madrid 1-0 in Paris.

“During my time at Anfield we established ourselves as the best team in the country with our traditional 4-4-2,” Kennedy reminised.

“We didn’t think too much about our opponents. There was so much self-belief that we always took the field determined to play our own way and our main goal was to push forward and score goals.

“Football in those days was easier to understand as emphasis was not so much on tactics. Now, players have to abide by their managers’ orders. The secret behind Liverpool’s success was unity in the group. Everyone played for each other and that made us a very difficult team to beat.”

After leaving Liverpool, Kennedy joined Sunderland before moving to Belgium and Wales. Kennedy admitted that he would have loved to have followed in the footsteps of his former team-mate David Johnson who joined Naxxar Lions in the 1980s.

“Unfortunately in those days, Naxxar Lions were in search of a centre-forward and were in no need of a defender,” Kennedy said with a smile.

“I would have loved to play in Malta but it was not to be.”