History maker Howard Kendall heads the North End interest as a hat-trick of football legends make a visit the National Football Museum on Friday 30th January.
To coincide with the publication of the Museum's new, updated edition of the Hall of Fame book, former Preston and Everton star Howard Kendall, Blackpool great Jimmy Armfield and Spurs and Derby legend Dave Mackay will all be at the museum from 1pm to meet fans and sign copies of the book.
All three players have been inducted into the museum's prestigious Hall of Fame at different stages, with a snippet of what they achieved listed here...
Howard Kendall was the youngest player to appear in a FA Cup Final (for Preston North End), at the age of 17 years and 345 days, in 1964. 'Preston North End lost the match, but found a star,' read the newspaper headlines. He went on to play for and manage Everton and won a championship title as both a player and a manager with the club. He is considered Everton's greatest ever manager and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2005.
Jimmy Armfield became a Hall of Fame member in 2008. Armfield, now a highly respected summariser with BBC Radio 5 Live, played for Blackpool for all of his career, won 43 England caps and captained his country on 15 occasions. In the 1962 World Cup tournament in Chile he was acclaimed as 'the best right-back in the world' and was voted 'best right-back in Europe' between 1962 and 1964.
Dave Mackay was one of the first inductees in 2002. Respected by other players for his courage on the pitch, he was once described by team mate Jimmy Greaves as "the greatest player in that great [Tottenham] side... an individual who had just about everything - power, skill, stamina and enthusiasm... when he was missing we all had to work twice as hard". After helping Spurs to three FA Cup victories in the 1960s, he joined Brian Clough's Derby County, helping them to win promotion to the First Division. The late Clough commented: "I can't overstate the impact and influence Mackay had at Derby... he was the consummate, complete professional, a man of immense talent".
David Pearson, manager of the National Football Museum, said:
"We're thrilled that these three great football legends, all of who are in our Hall of Fame, are finding the time to come along and sign copies of the book.
"This updated version includes chapters on all the great players and managers who've been inducted, and we hope that football fans will enjoy coming along to meet the players."
