PintoMcGuinness
Well-Known Member
Really great obit from Jimmy Wagg @ BBC Manchester
http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/manchester/hi/people_and_places/newsid_8824000/8824076.stm
The contribution made to the Manchester City cause by Ken Barnes was nothing short of immense.
Ken joined the Blues in 1950 and, over a period of more than 50 years, he served the club as player, captain, coach, assistant manager and scout.
Until his recent health problems, Ken was an active, and vocal, member of the ex-players association at City.
Those are the bare facts, now let me tell you a bit about the man.
Ken was funny, opinionated, charming, breathtakingly honest and swore like a trooper.
He pumped out more ash and smoke than an Icelandic volcano and he could spot a phoney from a hundred yards.
Players and fans adored him; directors, sometimes, loathed him.
He was City's chief scout for two decades, overseeing the development of many young City stars.
City winger David White was one of them and he said Ken never lost the touch that made him such an outstanding player.
"We'd turn up for training, Ken would come trotting out with a fag in his mouth, get in the middle of midfield and embarrass kids probably 40 years younger.
"He was a fantastic player and I'm sure the likes of that team who are still there in the City old boys will be shedding a few tears today."
Ten feet tall
For Ken, it was all about the game, the people who played it and the people who watched it.
He had rather less time for the people who ran it.
Ken had a lot of talents, but amongst the best was his ability to make you feel ten feet tall.
If he believed in you, Ken was an amazing ally and friend.
I don't remember Ken as a player; he left a couple of years before I really started to acquire football memories.
I met him through his son, Peter, and we got on from the start. He asked me to write a book about his time in the game.
'This Simple Game' was published in 2005.
When he finished reading it, he said to me, "There's a lot of swearing in it."
I said: "Ken, if we take the swearing out, there will only be the pictures left."
The hours spent with Ken - and his dog Stella - in writing the book were some of the happiest of my life.
Ken Barnes: heck of a player, heck of a bloke.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/manchester/hi/people_and_places/newsid_8824000/8824076.stm