There was a special showing of Everton: Howard's Way in Bilbao this week as players and fans of Athletic Club recalled the late manager
Howard Kendall enjoyed great success at Everton as both a player and then manager
Howard Kendall enjoyed great success at Everton as both a player and then manager
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Spanish cinemagoers queued around the block this week to watch a 2019 film about an Everton team from 40 years ago.
The scene on Wednesday evening was testament to the love and respect that legendary Blues player and manager Howard Kendall still commands in the Basque Country as there was a special showing of the documentary 'Everton: Howard’s Way' in Bilbao followed by a discussion of Kendall’s three-year tenure at Athletic Club having quit Goodison Park in 1987 after steering the team to two League Championships, an FA Cup and European Cup-Winners’ Cup.
A tweet from the Everton: Howard’s Way account on X admitted: “When we were making the film, not for a second did I think that 6 years on there would be people queuing around a building – in Spain – to watch it. The pulling power of Howard Kendall in Bilbao.”
The English language version of Athletic Club’s official website declared that beyond Kendall’s achievements on the pitch during his two-and-a-half seasons in charge, he left behind a fabulous human legacy in Bilbao. In the discussion that followed the screening, former players Joseba Agirre, Peio Uralde, Andoni Lakabeg and Fernando Quintanilla ‘Txirri’, together with local journalist Patxi Alonso as moderator, shared numerous anecdotes related to the endearing aspects of Kendall’s personality and they all had one thing in common: highlighting Howard’s human side.
Patxi Alonso described the man from Ryton, County Durham who died a decade ago this month aged 69, as “a players’ manager” and pointed out that: “Athletic is so well known in Liverpool today, thanks to Howard Kendall. And that is also part of his legacy.”
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For Peio Uralde, Kendall “was a normal guy, in the best sense of the word” and Joseba Aguirre emphasised his “approachability,” saying: “He was a man who spent a lot of time with those who weren’t playing. He wanted them to feel good and feel important to the team.”
Both Lakabeg and Txirri agreed on the English manager’s friendliness, and Txirri said that Kendall always looked out for him when the centre-back – who also played as a centre-forward in some matches – suffered a serious injury.
During his first season, Athletic finished fourth and qualified UEFA Cup, which helped facilitate a regeneration of the squad who maintained a policy of only selecting players from the Basque Country. Under Howard’s guidance, Josu Urrutia, Ander Garitano, Andoni Ayarza, Iñigo Lizarralde, Rafa Alkorta, Xabi Eskurza and Andoni Lakabeg made their first-team debuts.
As Patxi Alonso emphasised: “The greatest thing about Kendall was the way he left. His emotional farewell press conference will remain forever etched in our memories: ‘For me... Athletic... is the best club in the world.’”
Before the screening, the director of Howard’s Way, Rob Sloman, spoke briefly to the audience and told them: “Howard is massively well regarded in England. His greatest skill was man-management.
“People really loved him. That’s his legacy.
“As I’m an Everton fan, I know that other supporters of that generation feel that team didn’t get the credit they deserved for how good they were. That’s because they didn’t get to play in the European Cup due to the ban at the time.
“At Everton, Howard is, and probably always will be, the greatest manager in our history.”