We all know Howard Kendall as a successful manager and an all-round nice guy. However, he wasn’t like that all the time. A lesson learned by five young Everton players.
In September 1984, Howard Kendall watched Everton Reserves play Sheffield Wednesday Reserves, and at half-time, Everton were leading 2-0, thanks to goals from Stuart Rimmer and Rob Wakenshaw. However, the following 45 minutes were a disaster. Kendall was not impressed as Everton conceded 6 goals in the second half to lose 6-2. As a consequence, he put five of the players on the transfer list.
Howard Kendall said:
We were leading 2-0 at half-time and it seemed to be a case of how many more we might score in the second half. Instead, Sheffield [Wednesday] started putting pressure on, scored a couple of goals and went on to win 6-2.
In a number of young players. I did not see the attitude which would have put things right.
The next morning, he put Darren Hughes, Ian Bishop, John Morrissey and the goalscorers, Stuart Rimmer and Rob Wakenshaw, on the transfer list.
Kendall then said:
It was important that we showed the players concerned how serious we were in our assessment of the game. Attitude in young players is so important. These lads would not be here if we did not think they have skill or we thought they would not have a chance of becoming First Division players.
At some time, however, they must come to learn that football is not always a comfortable lifestyle. There are times when the only course of action is to roll up your sleeves and battle for yourself, your teammates and your club.
Even though they were put on the transfer list, he said that they still had a future at the club as long as they behaved accordingly.
What it does mean is that we shall be watching them very carefully over the next few months to see whether they have the right attitude in them – because it is a must.
Since they were transfer-listed, here is what happened to the players:
Darren Hughes – The left-back from Prescot played only once for the club since he was put on the transfer-list on the final day of Everton’s title-winning 1984/85 season – a 2-0 defeat against Luton. He played 3 games overall for the club before joining Shrewsbury on a free transfer.
He also had spells with Port Vale, Brighton and Exeter among others before retiring in 1998. His spell at Port Vale was mixed – he won promotion to the Second Division with them in 1989 and he was called the club’s best left-back of the 1980s by teammate Phil Sproson. However, after numerous injury woes, he was released by the club in 1994. Hughes subsequently took the club to a tribunal for unfair dismissal in order to prove that he has recovered from his injuries. He then quit the club at the end of the year.
Ian Bishop – The midfielder from Liverpool left the club to join Carlisle just a month after he was transfer-listed for a fee of £15,000. Afterwards, he enjoyed successful spells at West Ham and Manchester City.
At his first spell at Manchester City, he was popular with the fans and scored in Manchester City’s 5-1 win over Manchester United in 1989. However, despite his popularity, he was eventually sold to West Ham. The manager who sold him? Howard Kendall!
He played over 250 times for West Ham before joining Manchester City again, where he was part of the club’s resurgence from Division Two to the Premier League. He ended his career in 2004 playing in America.
John Morrissey – The son of Everton legend Johnny Morrissey made his only two appearances for the club after he was put on the transfer list – against Inter Bratislava and Luton. After a brief spell at Wolves, he enjoyed a 14-year spell at Tranmere, playing 585 times for the club – placing him fourth in the all-time appearances chart.
Morrissey played a key role in Tranmere’s meteoric rise which saw them playing in the Fourth Division to coming very close to playing in the Premier League and also winning the Football League Trophy in 1990.
Stuart Rimmer – The striker from Southport never played for Everton again after being placed on the transfer list, despite showing huge potential as a future first-team player. He made just three appearances for the club and he left Everton to join Chester on loan in January 1985.
On his Chester debut, he made an instant impact, scoring a hat-trick in a 5-1 win over Southend. From then on, he was scoring goals left, right and centre. He signed permanently for the club two months later for £10,000, scoring 14 goals in his first season with Chester. The following season, he scored 21 goals in 23 games in all competitions, including four goals against boyhood team Preston on his 21st birthday. However, an exceptional start to the season resulted in heartbreak for Rimmer after, during a match against Leyton Orient in November, he was ruled out for the rest of the season after colliding with the goalkeeper while he scored.
He stayed at Chester until March 1988, when he moved to Watford for £205,000. He had an unsuccessful spell there and played for Notts County, Walsall and Barnsley before rejoining Chester, finishing what he started. His combined stats for Chester are 427 appearances and 149 goals, 134 of those goals in the Football League – a club record.
Rob Wakenshaw – The striker played four times for the club since he was put on the transfer list, adding to his debut against Manchester United, wherein he scored a goal. Like Rimmer, he also showed potential to be a first-team player, scoring 26 goals for the reserves in the 1984/85 Central League – the most by an Everton reserve player since WWII. But he eventually left the club for Carlisle in September 1985 and his career quickly dwindled.