After less than a year in Manchester he rejoined Everton but, after three middling seasons he resigned and spent a short time managing Greek side Xanthi.

After a few months spent as manager of Notts County, Kendall joined Sheffield United, saving the club from relegation and then taking them to the 1997 play-off final.

His final managerial position was a four-month spell back in Greece, where he took charge of Ethnikos Piraeus and was sacked with the team at the bottom of the table.

At the time he was the youngest player to appear in a Wembley final,[3] his place in the side coming due to the regular left-half Ian Davidson being suspended by the club for an unauthorised trip to Scotland.

[5] They were a major component of the Everton team that reached the 1968 FA Cup Final, with Kendall again ending up on the losing side, and they went on to win the First Division title in the 1969–70 season.

One of the first things Durban did was appoint Kendall as player-coach and he thrived in the role and his performances earned him the club's inaugural player of the year award.

[9] In May 1981 Kendall returned to Everton as player-manager, in the hope of restoring the club to its former glory, although he only played four games before finally retiring as a player in December 1981.

He brought in younger players such as Peter Reid and Trevor Steven from smaller clubs to give them the opportunity to prove that they could compete at the highest level, and was largely successful.

[16] He then sold Gray to Aston Villa and brought in Gary Lineker who scored 38 goals in the 1985–86 season, albeit narrowly failing to win the major trophies.

Kendall's time in Bilbao was not a great success, hindered by limitations on the players he could sign for the Basque club,[5] though his popularity with the supporters was boosted by his assurances that he would not seek to change their traditions.

[23] Kendall's name had also been linked to Manchester United, whose disappointing form that season was leading to media talk – as well as calls from fans – for manager Alex Ferguson to be sacked.

[24] With the announcement in late May that Bobby Robson would step down as England manager after the 1990 FIFA World Cup, Kendall's name was inevitably mentioned by the press as a likely successor.

[27] He returned to Everton for a second spell as manager on 5 November 1990 following the sacking of Colin Harvey a week prior, who was re-appointed to the club as his assistant.

[5] By this stage Everton were battling against relegation to the Second Division, but he managed to turn their season around and they finished ninth and also reached the FA Cup quarter-finals, defeating Liverpool in the fifth round.

However, a series of rows with chairman Derek Pavis led to Kendall being sacked in April 1995 – their poor form continued after his departure and the team were relegated to Division Two at the end of the season.

Subsequently, Kendall joined Sheffield United in December 1995, saving the club from relegation and then taking them to the 1997 play-off final, which was lost to Crystal Palace.