He'd suffered from a falling out with Bury manager Chris Casper and had found himself frozen out. The team might well have been struggling in the League at the time, but there was still no room for Kennedy in Casper's mind.

And so it looked like the young full back's career might have fallen by the way side, as having followed in his father's footsteps and played for his hometown club, he was now set for the football scrap heap.

Fortunately for TK, he had an ally in Dale assistant manager David Flitcroft who could see what a talent Kennedy was from his time as a player at Gigg Lane, and having himself fallen foul of Casper's regime, he knew he was a player worth putting his faith in.

It was a bit of slowish start for Kennedy. Pre-season performances had one or two Dale supporters worried that we might have signed a bad 'un, after being caught out by opposition wingers.

But as soon as the first whistle of the season started, we never looked back. Fans worried over the departure of Alan Goodall were soon asking "Alan Who?" as Kennedy immediately settled into the Dale side, impressing all. Indeed, in only his second full month at the club, Kennedy had impressed that many that he was awarded the Player of the Month - a rare feat for a left back.

He became a stalwart in the Dale side over the season, playing all but three of the games. He added maturity to the back line and was often the instigator of attacks down the left hand side, forming a good relationship with Adam Rundle.

He grabbed  a couple of goals along the way too. He got the winner at Wycombe through a penalty, and a real contender for Goal of the Season with his McCourtesque effort at Chester. He even scored an outstanding penalty in the shoot out win over Darlington in the Play Offs.