Farewell to lion-hearted hero Kitchener
And many more of us who never saw Barry Kitchener play and mightn’t, in truth, recall ever seeing his face until the first tributes were posted, will join them in a thought and a prayer.
For Kitch will forever live on in the pages of Only A Game? — Eamon Dunphy’s marvellous old story of Millwall’s disappointing 1973-74 season; a tale of dashed dreams in the mud and sweat of English League Division 2.
Almost 40 years on, Only A Game? still breathes life into the dynamic of a professional dressing room like no other football book before or since. Above all, it is a paean to the guy who holds everything together even when the group is being fragmented by self-interest; The Good Pro.
This is the guy who, as Dunphy puts it, “accepts responsibility, both his and yours — when the going gets tough”. The guy who quietly makes the interception when you have switched off and lost your man.
In truth, Kitch doesn’t play a key role in the narrative. But he stands tall in the foreground, a silent example of the kind of man Dunphy is talking about. “People are landing us in the shit, and keeping people like Alan [Dorney] and Kitch, who are really great players and good, brave men, from the First Division.”
Kitch never made it to the First Division, though he spent another eight years setting an example. When we remember that Eamon stood with guys like this, who didn’t enjoy many rewards, we perhaps better understand his frustration with less selfless men like Ronaldo. Heroes come in different shapes.
Dunphy calls The Good Pro “the true hero of professional sport”. One hero deserves a good send-off today.
