GIVING GROUNDS FOR HOPE TO RAY KENNEDY
Daily Post 28 April 2008
Steve Kelly, from Through The Wind & Rain, pays tribute to a group of Liverpool fans who visited all 92 League grounds to raise funds to help former Anfield great Ray Kennedy.
Things happen for a reason. In December 2006 my friend Karl Coppack fell ill. Once he'd recovered the last thing he could remember before the attack was a conversation with me at the JJB Stadium in Wigan.
We've often wondered what sent Karl over the edge; the four goals Liverpool had scored in one half, the fact that Craig Bellamy got two of them - or that he saw me smiling at half-time. Any one of these would have been enough, but all three at once proved too much.
Perhaps it was fate that again brought him into contact with Andrew Lees. He was so ill that he had completely forgotten their previous meeting.
He had contacted Dr Lees for a fanzine article in 2005 because he was the doctor and biographer of Ray Kennedy. A Liverpool legend, and Karl's favourite player of all time.
This wasn't borne from a desire to be different. Sure, everyone else would cite Dalglish or Rush and the young 'uns (bless them) can seen no further back than Gerrard, but he shared this high regard with Bob Paisley, no mean judge of a footballer. With Arsenal and Liverpool Kennedy won every prize it is possible to win, and did so with style and elegance. He did everything well, and Liverpool were never the same side on the mercifully few occasions he was injured.
So Karl was now on speaking terms with a man of fundamental importance to his all-time hero.
Without ever breaching doctor-patient confidentiality it became clear that Ray's quality of life was nothing short of a scandal. Hardly surprising really; he had for two long decades been afflicted by Parkinson's Disease. The first signs are even visible in video footage of his heyday.
After a magnificent playing career in an era when footballers were not as obscenely wealthy as they are today, it must have felt like the worst practical joke in the world.
This fabulous athlete was laid low. The disease affected his speech and his movement. He would find himself seizing up in public, completely dependent on a kind stranger (usually a fan) who could get him home or to a hospital.
He was denied the chance to earn a living. Even today he knows far more about the game than some of the jokers they call pundits. He was forced to sell his most treasured possessions, including England caps and winners medals, 15 years ago.
Most people would hear this story, say "shame", shrug their shoulders and get on with their own lives, especially if they'd gone through what Karl had.
But he didn't; he decided to do something to help his hero. Now fully recovered he helped create the Ray Of Hope appeal. What they lacked in organisational skills they made up for with fervour and passion.
Overcoming shyness they put their case to the media in England and used the Liverpool websites and fanzines to spread the word.
After one particularly successful fund-raiser held at Anfield itself, it was decided that still more could be done. Karl, along with friends Matt Anton and Stephen Hinds, embarked on a chaotic journey across England and Wales to visit all 92 football league grounds.
Geeky, yes. Insane, undoubtedly - but it was all for Ray Kennedy, the hero of countless matches during Liverpool's golden age and a double-winner with Arsenal. He had given his all for us, so these Liverpool fans decided it was payback time.
They not only visited the grounds they asked the clubs for contributions to be auctioned for the cause. Most did. Closer to home, Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher had already provided jerseys worn in the victory over Inter Milan.
By day four sleep deprivation and a recalcitrant Sat-Nav began to sap their strength and resolve. They were buoyed by further generosity and a visit to the home of the great man himself. They felt three quarters awe, one quarter sadness – but also an overwhelming feeling that their mission was just and appreciated by Ray.
They were to meet various friends all along the route. They were given sustenance and a place to sleep. It was a magnificent effort all round.
As they reached ground 92, Fulham's Craven Cottage, they were greeted like conquering heroes, which of course is exactly what they are. The least their team could do was give them a performance and a victory, and thankfully they did so.
Of course one of their visits was to Sheffield Wednesday, where they laid flowers at the memorial for the 96. Liverpool fans have never really been the media darlings, but there's one thing you can never accuse us of and that's forgetting our own.
"You'll Never Walk Alone" is a great song, inspirational even. For us it's more than that. It's an ethos, a code by which to live by.
After weeks of public acrimony and interminable backstabbing from our so- called betters that made our club a laughing stock, it is worth remembering that some still adhere to that code.
Ray Kennedy can testify to that.
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A massive Well Done to these lads and I'm certain that Ray Kennedy appreciates what you've done.
Yeah........we do look after our own don't we, that's what makes Liverpool fans very special.
