Richard Laidler Simply the Best!

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WEMBLEY1964, Tuesday, April 27, 2004
Day we went to
Wembley
’64 FA Cup final
Kid Kendall’s
Corrie cup lift
By Tony Dewhurst
ENA Sharples, the hairnetted firebrand of Coronation Street, scripted a
short letter to Howard
Kendall and his Deepdale
pals after Preston North
End had won the admiration of the country at the
1964 FA Cup final.
WINNER AND LOSER: West Ham’s Sissons and PNE’s Kendall
It read: ‘To the lads of Preston
North End, I know nowt about football but I watched you all on Saturday and, believe me, I was very
proud of you.
‘It was real bad luck to miss the
Cup. You certainly deserved it. Ah
well, you did your best and that’s all
that matters.
God bless you, Violet Carson
(Ena Sharples).
Preston North End’s fame and
Kendall’s growing reputation had
even reached the regulars in the
snug of the Rovers Return it
seemed.
“We won the admiration of
England with our performance at
Wembley against West Ham and
Violet’s letter was just typical of
the reaction from the country,”
recalled Kendall.
“We got calls and letters from
all over the world and I’ve still got
a copy of her letter in my scrapbook.
“I just felt a great sense of pride
to be associated with a fantastic
club like Preston North End and
the 1964 final was perhaps my
proudest playing memory.”
It will be 40 years ago this
month since Kendall became the
youngest player then to play in an
FA Cup final, at just 17 years and
345 days.
“Playing in an FA Cup final was
an incredible experience for a lad
of 17, but what really stands out
after all this time was that Preston
homecoming.
“The reception we received was
Even Ena Sharples was
proud of Preston’s boys
stunning and a complete shock.
We’d just lost the FA Cup final,
yet it seemed the whole of the
town wanted to thank us for our
efforts and that was incredibly
special.
“The police struggled to
maintain a path on Fishergate
for the bus and I’ll never forget
that moment.
“The fans had painted the town
blue and white and the bus journey from the railway station to the
civic reception at the Market
Square was very emotional.
“Before that the club had protected me from all the publicity
surrounding the fact I was the
youngest kid ever to play in the
FA Cup final, but then I realised
how much it had meant to the
Preston people.
“Everybody had a banner,
rosette or flag of some kind and
they were singing ‘Glory, Glory,
Howard Kendall’ and ‘We want
North End.’
“I’d been living in digs on
Lowthorpe Road on £7-a-week a
couple of years before, but never
in my wildest dreams could I have
imagined anything like that.
“I got a special cheer from the
crowd outside the Guttridge
Memorial Church, where I’d
played the church organ at Sunday school. It was a special time in
my life.”
Kendall had only just broken
into the North End team, but he
quickly underlined his growing
potential that season when North
End reached their first Wembley
final for a decade and then were
cruelly edged out for promotion
to Division One by Leeds and
Sunderland.
Nobody, though, had given
North End much chance against a
West Ham team loaded with talent and containing the youthful
Bobby Moore and Geoff Hurst.
And when regular wing-half
Ian Davidson was suspended by
North End, Kendall stepped into
the breach.
“There was just no way I expected to play because I’d only
played a handful of games that
cup final season.
“I didn’t even start against
Swansea Town in the semi-final at
Villa Park, and my father had told
me I should forget the final, then I
shouldn’t be too disappointed.
“But one day I just walked in
from training and there was the
cup final team pinned up on the
notice board.
“It just read: H Kendall, number six. It was a complete surprise.
I was stunned.
“Strangely, though, I had no
nerves. I was protected from the
hype by the older players.
“In the dressing room the rest
of the lads were just
making sure I was
settled and that
took some of the
fear away for
them.
VIOLET
“The plan
was to give
CARSON:
me the first
TV’s Ena
touch from
Sharples
the kick-off
wrote to PNE
at Wembley
to settle the nerves. Of course the
ball ballooned about 20 yards past
me and the West Ham lads had a
real laugh.
“We’d led twice through Doug
Holden and Alex Dawson, and to
lose the cup so late on to that
Ronnie Boyce goal was heartbreaking.
“A month earlier I’d captained
young England in the Junior
World Cup, and then three weeks
later there I was playing at Wembley. It made me a national name,
I suppose, but at the time I didn’t
really think about it too much.
“I can’t believe it is 40 years ago
now. The memories are so fresh
and I’m really looking
forward to
the 1964
F
A
Cup
final
explayers
reunion,
which
will be a
special
event.”
Richard Laidler Simply the Best!
M E N S W E A R
Garstang Road, Broughton, Preston (Forecourt Parking) Tel: 01772 866188