Latest news with #HowardKendall
Yahoo
02-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
'Tough as teak... and a ruthless streak'
Throughout Wednesday, the BBC's chief football writer Phil McNulty will rank the hardest men to play for Everton. Drop in through the day to see who he selects and you'll also get the chance to state who should be on the list later. In fourth spot (scroll down the page for who is in fifth)... Advertisement Kevin Ratcliffe Some may be surprised by this choice, perhaps thinking Pat van den Hauwe (see below) might be the more obvious selection from Howard Kendall's great 1980s team, but Everton's most successful captain, who led them to two titles, the FA Cup and the European Cup Winners' Cup, was the man you would want alongside you in the heat of any battle. Ratcliffe was an outstanding central defender, whose searing pace was essential to Everton's defensive set-up, as well as having every asset required in the position with his ability to read the game and sense danger. He was also tough as teak and a natural leader. He was willing to let strikers know he was there, as his great friend and Wales team-mate Ian Rush often testifies. Advertisement Ratcliffe was a defender who had everything, including a ruthless streak that made him a winner and captain of a side full of strong characters, such as Peter Reid, Andy Gray and Neville Southall. In a team with plenty of hard men, Ratcliffe - a defender of the highest class – has claims to be the hardest. Come back later on Wednesday to see more of McNulty's selections.
BBC News
02-07-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
'Tough as teak... and a ruthless streak'
Throughout Wednesday, the BBC's chief football writer Phil McNulty will rank the hardest men to play for Everton. Drop in through the day to see who he selects and you'll also get the chance to state who should be on the list fourth spot (scroll down the page for who is in fifth)...Kevin RatcliffeSome may be surprised by this choice, perhaps thinking Pat van den Hauwe (see below) might be the more obvious selection from Howard Kendall's great 1980s team, but Everton's most successful captain, who led them to two titles, the FA Cup and the European Cup Winners' Cup, was the man you would want alongside you in the heat of any was an outstanding central defender, whose searing pace was essential to Everton's defensive set-up, as well as having every asset required in the position with his ability to read the game and sense was also tough as teak and a natural leader. He was willing to let strikers know he was there, as his great friend and Wales team-mate Ian Rush often was a defender who had everything, including a ruthless streak that made him a winner and captain of a side full of strong characters, such as Peter Reid, Andy Gray and Neville a team with plenty of hard men, Ratcliffe - a defender of the highest class – has claims to be the back later on Wednesday to see more of McNulty's selections.
BBC News
17-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
The house converted into Goodison executive lounge
There is nothing out of the ordinary when you stand at the front door of 9 Goodison Road but once you step inside it quickly becomes evident that this is not your typical terraced home.A stone's throw away from Goodison Park, lifelong Everton supporter Ray Parr, 79, has run an executive lounge on matchdays - The Striker's Lounge - for the past 27 years, attracting fans and Toffees royalty Blues will move to their new 53,000-seater arena at Bramley-Moore Dock this summer with Goodison Park set to become the home of Everton's women's Ray, this marks the end of his chapter as the owner of The Striker's Lounge after almost three decades. Ray bought the house opposite the stadium in 1998 after becoming fed up with the price of a box, which was due to rise to between £45,000 and £50,000."I shared a box with some friends of mine and they had put the price up to a rather large amount," said the retired building surveyor."So I had an idea that we could buy a house and basically transfer it from the box over here, get our own chef in, a waitress and a guy on the door."At the time, Ray was buying and renovating houses and bought the property for £21,000, transforming the ground floor into an executive lounge for members. The walls of the lounge are adorned with a treasure trove of Everton and football one side is Howard's Corner. An area dedicated to former Everton manager Howard Kendall, who would regularly visit the lounge."Now I have 26 members. We have a big kitty at the beginning of the year and that pays for the chef, the drinks and everything else," he said."All the members come in two hours before the game starts. There's a bar and they sit down to a very nice two-course meal cooked by a chef that has cooked for the Royal family and Tiger Woods."Then we go to the game. We have our own tickets for the game. We come back after the game for an hour [while the] traffic dies down."We commiserate or we celebrate either way and it seems to have worked for 27 years." The Blues' final men's competitive game at their home of 133 years is set to take place on that in mind, Ray said the time was right for him to call it a day on the Striker's Lounge."This year is the last year unfortunately," he while it will be the end of an era, Ray said he was looking forward to making more memories in the new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock."It looks fantastic. It's incredible. The place itself. The views. There is not a bad view in the place," he said. "The fact it's close to the pitch means the atmosphere's going to be great." Gareth Jones, who is managing director of FullNinety Sports Management, is in the process of buying the property to continue Ray's legacy."The plan is to continue the great work that he's done," said the 47-year-old football sale is expected to complete this summer with the lounge back open ahead of the will be open for hospitality before and after the men's, women's and under 21s said he was also considering opening up the lounge for Reds games as well as planning to give back to the local community by offering the space to charities. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
BBC News
16-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
'The atmosphere was just unreal, absolutely unreal'
Kevin Ratcliffe, Everton's most successful ever captain, has been sharing his memories of Goodison Park with BBC Sport Toffees' game against Southampton on Sunday will be the final senior men's fixture at their home of 133 skippered Everton to two First Division titles, an FA Cup and European Cup Winners Cup during the 1980s under Howard Kendall."There was only one thing I wanted to do and that was to play football for Everton Football Club and play at Goodison. My family were all Evertonians," he said."That was my dream – but not in my wildest dreams did I think I was going to be captain of them and winning things. That was just an added extra."The Bayern Munich game [1985 Cup Winners Cup semi-final second leg] will take a lot of beating. The atmosphere was just unreal, absolutely unreal."Getting to the ground and coming round the Bullens Road we couldn't get down there – the bus was rocking."We literally got into the ground 45 minutes before the game because the streets were lined with fans."It's a typical old ground and it's needed upgrading – going to the new stadium is going to be absolutely fantastic."But this place will be missed – there's no doubt about it. And the one thing that will be missed is the atmosphere."
BBC News
16-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Kendall - a legend's story in his own words
Howard Kendall was one of the greatest players to grace the Goodsion Park pitch in it's long was also the club's greatest manager too, having led the side to two First Division titles, as well as an FA Cup triumph and European Cup Winners' history is so rich within the club he has his name on the famous Gwladys Street End stand at the stadium the men's team will be leaving after Radio Merseyside have collated archive audio, so you can hear the Everton icon's story in his own to the full Goodbye to Goodison episode on BBC SoundsHear more from the BBC Radio Merseyside series
