Howard Kendall

The respect he had from his former players even up until this day shows, to me, two things: how much of a man-manager he was, and how the game has moved on from those more respectful times.

The last time I saw Howard he was in one of those houses on Goodison Road used as a private lounge. John Bailey and Kevin Ratcliffe were also in attendance. They referred to him as "Boss", and the man himself had time for everyone who wanted a word, to share a memory, or to simply say "Thanks".

May he Rest in Peace.

Gwladys Street, Park End, Bullens Road and the Main Stand. If anyone deserves a stand named in their honour then surely it's Howard Kendall. I think the Kendall Stand has a nice ring to it, but the devil in me wants to propose Howard's End.

Everton need to name a stand after him.

You will be sadly missed Howard, RIP and may God comfort and strengthen your family through this very painful time.

Nil satis nisi optimum, never has this applied more to an Evertonian than Howard Kendall, he was the best.

HK is a gold carat Everton legend. Success as a player. Success as a manager. He knew EXACTLY what NSNO stood for.

But for the European ban, he wouldn't have left us in '87 and probably would have taken us to further glory.

I met him for the one and only time outside Wembley before the 2009 FA Cup final. What a man. What an Evertonian. What a legend.

Terrible loss for our club.

RIP HOWARD KENDALL

I had taken my mum for a meal at a place in Formby and during the evening we spotted HK at a nearby table. My mum, who is not a football person, went over. She told him about my dad and about how he would have been delighted to have been there to meet him.

Howard was wonderful and kind to my mum. No hint of impatience that she had hijacked his night out. He gave her time and showed her kindness at a time when the loss of my dad was very raw.

At the end if the evening as HK and his party were leaving, he made a point of coming over and making a fuss of my mum before he left.

It was a nothing in many ways, but it showed a warmth to the man and I was very grateful that he had bothered to make the time.

It appears from what others have said about him that such behaviour was typical of the man.

May he rest in peace.

As I nervously sat in the dugout praying that none of the match officials got injured, I noticed Howard Kendall sat in the Everton box supporting his reserve team. Nothing greatly unusual about that except that the following evening the first team had a crucial European Cup Winners Cup semi-final second leg tie against Bayern Munich so it would have been easy for him to put his feet up and have an early night as I reckon it would have been at least midnight before he returned home.

I passed him in the dressing room corridor after the game and wished him all the best for the semi-final, informing him that I was a born and bred Evertonian, he warmly thanked me and shook my hand which of course inspired him to mastermind arguably our greatest ever performance at Goodison Park that ultimately led to a European trophy.

My son James and I stayed at the same hotel as the team before the Zenith Data Systems Cup Final in 1991 (my son was only 7) and Howard was great with him. He even made sure he came across to say goodbye before the team left for Wembley.

He was a wonderful player, a wonderful gentleman, and Everton's best ever manager. He deserves a great send off today, and will be very greatly missed by all true football supporters, not just Blues. RIP Howard.

Howard was a humble, talented player and manager with all of the qualities of the best.

A very sad loss of a true blue legend.

The city of Liverpool has always gleaned world class talents in its name: The 'Four Lads', Frankie Vaughan. Lita Roza, Tommy Trinder, Arthur Askey, to name a few.

Howard was a towering icon even among our many greats, a true gentleman in every sense of the word, and a credit to us all.

Sadly, to my great regret, I cannot join the thousands who will pay their respects at his funeral due to incapacity and being over 3,000 miles from home, but as a very proud lifetime Evertonian along with my two similarly endowed sons, I will certainly be at Goodison in spirit on that sad day.

Rest In Well Earned Peace; never forgotten.

I'm not ashamed to admit that I've shed tears over Howard's death. I am spending a week at a beautiful spot in Tuscany, but yesterday the only place I wanted to be was Goodison.

We have such memories of Howard as a player, my own favourite is of being on my own as a 12-year-old in the stand at Filbert Street in the FA Cup Quarter-Final, 1968, celebrating him scoring a belter in a 3-1 win.

I always wanted him to return as manager, but the first few years were tough. It looked like it was all over at the end of 1983. I went with family and mates to Molyneux after Christmas, Wolves hadn't won at home all season, but managed to beat us 3-0. Then we had the awful draw at home against Coventry, and we listened on the way home from the match as Stuart Hall told us on Sports Report that Mike England had been spotted at Goodison and was being lined up to take over.

I got home and, as my Dad had done with me, I tucked up my little lad in bed and said a few prayers with him. I always ended with "...and God bless Everton", but that night we changed it to "....and God bless Howard Kendall and Everton".

I reckon He did, and will again.

"On another occasion, after a run of poor results, Howard decided the squad should meet for a bonding session in Chinatown on the next Tuesday. It went so well that some of the players were there until it was almost dinner time. The team won the next match and the next and the next and everyone agreed that the Tuesday gatherings had been crucial and the same wild lunches should happen every week. Then they lost and Howard gathered the players together and said: 'Right, lads, this Tuesday routine is clearly not working any more. How do you feel about Wednesdays?'"

Yes, I've seen that...shocking but only what we've come to expect from the media who truly believe football wasn't invented until the birth of the Premier League. But in truth we've all got our terrific memories of Howard the player I was 10 in 1969-70 when that magnificent side won the league; what a shame the way that side broke up.

But for me the memories are from that golden age of the 80s when Howard was manager, giving us some of the greatest days of our lives. I never thought not once that side from 84 to 87 would lose a game; we obviously did but that's what Howard did – he made us believe we wouldn't.

The tributes to him as a player and a manager are obvious but it's the tributes to him as a man that are so heartwarming. I even thought Gary Lineker was going to shed one on MotD last night.

Goodnight, Howard... never forgotten.

Thank you, Howard, for all you did for our beloved Everton.

Despite the distance, and lack of communication pre-Internet, I always kept up with all things Everton thanks to my parents and some old copies of the pink Echo sent to me every few months. Great days, great memories; thank you, Howard. And now, can we please get the Main Stand renamed the Howard Kendall stand?

I found it almost impossible to watch the match and only now have watched the highlights. I can only imagine how had it must have been for the fans and players to be involved. Everton were not themselves and lost the match but that seemed unimportant.

Only 1 part of the "Holy Trinity" is left and Colin Harvey was fighting back tears as Howard was remembered by the fans and players before the kick off. We have lost the most significant link to our great past. We all know that golden time from 1984 to 1987 will never be repeated but thankfully if you were around then to enjoy those years when we were undoubtedly the best team in the 1st Division. It was a truly memorable few years when you never woke up on match day and wondered how the game would go. You just knew Everton would win.

With a lack of TV coverage except MotD on Saturday evening, I spent most of the matches glued to listening on the radio as the Blues were often the team who would be broadcast. On Saturdays from November to February, when my own match would kick off early, it would be Doddy's Headlines going to my match and then catch the end of the 2nd half on the way back.

Those European nights again on the radio were unbelievable and Howard was robbed by Heysel of true greatness he deserved as a manager.

So another part of my past has gone. Thanks, Howard, for those proud precious moments. I am truly grateful for having been a Blue while you were part of our club.

If, in any walk of life, that is your legacy, then you have lived a truly good and useful life. We were blessed that Howard Kendall chose to spend that extraordinary life in service of our club.

What made Howard Kendall's Everton different was the people that Howard built around him. The great Colin Harvey and a team of unknowns that became legends. And who can forget Mick Heaton?

Howard managed UP as much as he managed DOWN. As lovely as Howard was, he could be ruthless as a manager but never unfair!

I was fortunate to have known Howard and still keep in touch with Colin and some of the team, and Howard and Colin always showed me nothing but kindness and support when as a sales rep and rabid Blue, I created the Smirnoff Daily Post Player of the Month Awards with Everton & Liverpool.

During that time, I worked with local and hugely talented reporters Dave Prentice, Phil McNulty and Ian Ross as they cut their journalistic teeth at the Daily Post, along with the Editor, the wonderful Len Capeling. I was immensely privileged to be "inside the ropes" during Everton's most successful period and the fact that I'd grown up with the Everton sides of the late 60s & 70s made it all the more special.

During his time at Everton, Howard would invite me and others into his "office" after every home game. The stories and visits of other managers inc Sir Alex, Kenny and George Graham were magical and often hilarious. Whilst we were never buddies we became friends and every time I have met up with Howard over the past 30 plus years it's like it was yesterday.

Evertonians have not only lost their greatest manager, we've lost a genuinely wonderful and warm human being. Someone who had time for everyone. Yes, I agree, We must ensure he is remembered in the most fitting way. RIP, Howard. I hope you knew how much you were loved by the many that knew and met you and the thousands that didn't.

Two days on from waking to the news of the great man's passing, I am still numb with grief. A 3-0 trouncing at home to the Mancs would normally be cause for cursing and questioning. For the first time EVER, that I can recall, I am totally indifferent to the result and performance of the game.

Because the passing of Howard Kendall is a loss beyond compare. Football, but Everton FC in particular, have lost a GIANT of a man. A GIANT of the game.

I know my history and I know the contribution of players, managers and administrators associated with the club since its formation in 1878. Personally, I am hard pushed to think of one single person in the Everton pantheon and club history that has possibly contributed more to the fans' pleasure, be it as a player, a manager or simply as an unofficial representative of the club, than Howard Kendall.

He was immense in the Holy Trinity midfield in – I agree with you, David – the best football team ever produced at Everton. He made us the premier team of the mid-80s when trophies and visits to Wembley were a given, such was the potency of the team.

I was working in Holland during one championship season, pre-internet age, and every Monday morning an Ajax supporter would ask me first thing: "So... did Everton lose this weekend?" He had to wait 4 months before I finally could tell him, yes, indeed, they finally lost a game. All other weekends I was reporting how we were sticking 3-4-5-6 past all-comers. We were that good. Defeat was not an option with that team.

As yourself and many others in this thread testify, aside from his prowess as a player and a manager, he was simply a very decent man who always, ALWAYS, found time to speak to fellow blues and it never, NEVER entered his head that there was a better club in the history of the world than his, our, beloved Blues.

Along with 25 April – the day we lost Bally – 17 October is now another date that will forever be etched on my scratchy memory for anniversaries.

Thank you, Howard. Thank you for giving me so much pride and pleasure in being a Blue.

I think letting Howard go in '87 was the biggest mistake we ever made. Although we weren't in Europe, I am sure we could have nicked a few more trophies domestically with him at the helm. Maybe we would have finished higher in the league as well. When he returned in 1990, enough of his squad had left or were old, plus the new guys weren't top class, so it was a re-building process.

It's interesting how many of his players were in the FA Cup winning side of 95: Southall, Jackson, Rideout, Stuart, Watson, Ablett, Horne and Ebbrell came up during his tenure from the youth team.

RIP Howard, you are arguably the greatest ever Evertonian. Have a chat with Dixie and Bally up there.

With all the amazing and worthy tributes to the greatest Everton Manager in history, I haven't seen one attributed to our Chairman??

I truly hope BK is in good health but this strikes me as very strange as Bill is normally the first man to pay his respects to one of our own!

Something is going on at Goodison because the hierarchy's behaviour has been erratic of late (more erratic than usual!)

I hope Howard Kendall gets the recognition from the club that his achievements truly deserve. But for those two seasons of his we would have ended up like the other Lancashire clubs. Nothing will ever beat that night at Bury. And I include Anfield 95 which was comparable but didn't beat it because how can anything beat total and utter jubilation? I remember vividly their wooden stand bouncing to the tune of 'One man went to mow' ... with our 'five minutes to go and then we're in the second' chant ... by the time it got to 'one minute to go' - man it was absolutely out of this world. Even when we win the Champions League in 2030 it won't top that. Nothing can beat 100%.

The scenes around Gigg Lane after that match were my Fever Pitch moment. I was the 10-year-old kid in the film simply awestruck by the excitement, passions and camaraderie I was witnessing. Stuck in the huge traffic jam hypnotised by this middle aged Rovers fan pouring plastic cups of beer from a keg he was carrying and dishing them out to all and sundry, folk getting out of their cars and hugging him, people on top of bus shelters...

That season's 15-match unbeaten run (14 wins) and basically the whole of the next season was something else. Two years earlier we were going down the pan with the rest of them. He gave us so much. His involvement with Junior Rovers and the local community speaks volumes for the man.

His name deserves to be preserved as a Rovers Legend.

Great to see how widely appreciated he was and is upheld as a legend elsewhere too.

Can you imagine Mourinho, Ferguson or Wenger prompting such memories?

Guess we all lost a close friend, Good night, Mr Kendall, with great respect. Thank you.

I loved reading his posts in the Echo, his mind still as sharp as a razor. RIP, Howard... From us all at Everton. Thanks for the memories.

But my memory takes me back to when he was appointed Player/Manager. We were in the middle of an injury crisis so Howard turned out. OK, the legs were not the same but he sat in the middle of the park and sprayed balls all over, as if to say to all the players out there that day, "This is the way you do it."

Rest in Peace, my Hero.