Howard Kendall

[Tom]

Saddened to hear Howard has passed away aged 69.

I'm too young to have seen his time here but I know people look back with great memories.

Edited October 17, 2015 by Tom M

[Gav]

Saddened to hear Howard has passed away aged 69.

I'm too young to have seen his time here but I know people look back with great memories.

Sad sad news, a true Rovers great.

RIP

[Tom]

I would imagine the club will do a good tribute especially seeing as Alan Myers probably knew him quite well

[pk1875]

Such sad news, as a kid I remember making a Howards Kendalls Blue and White Army banner with my dad and tyeing it onto the Railings on the old Riverside......RIP Howard and Thanks for the great memories

[den]

Very sad news.

Saw him make his debut for PNE all those years ago. Brilliant footballer and very underrated by many. Even at the end of his footballing days he was a class act. kendall was respected by just about everyone he played with or managed.

Good guy.

[StaffsRover]

Very sad news. As a child Howard was my next door neighbour (literally) in Wilpshire and I went to school with his son. My father baptised one of his kids at Wilpshire Methodist Church. I remember him as being an extremely friendly guy, with absolutely no airs and graces whatsoever. My thoughts are with his family.

[AllRoverAsia]

Legend. RIP & God Bless.

[RibbleValleyRover]

Sad news.

Before my time when he made his contribution to Rovers both as a player and a manager (but I did hear from relatives how good he was at Rovers and the contribution he made), I did however remember some of his spell at Everton.

RIP Howard Kendall

[ABBEY]

RIP .. Way to young .

Alls I can say is GIgg Lane .

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Was a great manager at Ewood and legend at Goodison.

R.I.P.

[rigger]

Now there was a man who brought pride and respectability to our club. Thanks for the memories.

[Waggy76]

Great player and manager for the Rovers , wish we had his like today ! Thanks for the memories ..Bury 1980 what a night !

[Wing Wizard Windy Miller]

Watched my first rovers games when Kendall was manager. Did very well for us.

Sympathies to his family.

Edited October 17, 2015 by Wing Wizard Windy Miller

[Baz]

To young to see him at Rovers, but remember fans telling me about his time at the club and how he rescued us from the 3rd division doldrums.

Thoughts to his friends and family.

[Mercer]

Great is an often over used word in connection with football folk but certainly not in Howard's case. He was a truly great Rovers manager who did a magnificent job on a shoestring budget. What he achieved in two years with Rovers was nothing short of remarkable.

Those who used the Bulls Head, Wilpshire back in Howard's days at Rovers will recall seeing Howard there on a number of occasions and that's where a big Rovers' party ended up after clinching promotion at Bury on that not to be forgotten night. An amiable bloke always willing to have a word.

RIP.

[Phil1875]

I hope Howard Kendall gets the recognition from the club that his achievements truly deserves. 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 was my Fever Pitch moment. I was the ten yr 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. May he rest in peace.

[Threepenny Bit Foot]

Very sad news. Howard Kendall was a man with honour who gave the club back some respectability. The promotion season when we came back up from the old third division was probably one of my favourite seasons ever. Duncan McKenzie, Andy Crawford, Micky Sleight...and Howard played himself and was still class. Chesterfield away on the train and of course, Gigg Lane. Happy days.

Thoughts with Howard's family RIP

[philipl]

Gigg Lane- the whole stand was bouncing (literally). Remember looking up at the flex strung between the floodlight pylon and the stand roof and it was whipping around like a skipping rope.

Even though we saw him at the twilight of his playing career, Kendall was the class act on the field at a time when we and other lower division sides fielded several high quality players (Garner and Brotherston in their pomp).

The way we kicked on after promotion and came so close to two promotions running was a fantastic credit to Kendall's motivational and organisational ability.

Yes truly a great.

[onlyonejackwalker]

Still a very good player when pl;aying for the Rovers and improved all those around him. One of my earlier memories the promotion achieved under him.

Sad news indeed. Very good player and very accomplished manager.

RIP from all Rovers fans and thoughts are with his family.

[AllRoverAsia]

Good to see Rovers quickly get a tribute onto the website: http://www.rovers.co.uk/news/article/howard-kendall-blackburn-rovers-2747645.aspx

[Ozz]

Far too young to pass away. RIP Howard Kendall.

[Jock]

Great Footballer

Great Manager

Great Man.

[A cup of beans]

I'm too young to remember him, in person, but his autobiography was one of my favourite reads as a youngster.

His achievements speak for themselves.

The praise and gratitude of those paying tribute,

show him as a true legend.

[tomphil]

Like a few others it was just before my time of starting going to Ewood but I was always aware of his time there. Remember as a kid reading the promotion brochure and seeing reports of that great run and some photos of the Bury game and being gutted I'd just missed out on it. Real legendary stuff and a massive achievement.

RIP

[Amo]

Before my time, but his reputation precedes him and by all accounts he was a credit to the game. RIP.