As well as being a popular figure at Tottenham Hotspur, Newport County and Wolverhampton Wanderers, and playing both at Wembley and in Europe, Mark Kendall was also a much-respected police officer who once prevented a chain-saw attack.

Raised in Britannia, Blackwood and the moving as a teenager to Cefn Fforest, Kendall played for Pengam Boys Club and by the age of 14 was representing Wales at youth level — he also went on to play for Wales at under-21 level. At 16, having been spotted by one of their scouts, he moved to Tottenham Hotspur, and three years later made his first full appearance in a North London derby. It was never going to be the easiest of debuts, and Spurs were duly drubbed 5-0.

After 29 appearances with Tottenham, Kendall returned home in 1980 to sign for Newport County, for whom he made 350 appearances. The 1980s were initially promising times for the South Wales club, who in 1980 both earned promotion from the original fourth division and won the Welsh Cup, which qualified them for the European Cup Winners’ Cup. Astonishingly, they reached the quarter-finals in 1980-81, overcoming Crusaders of Northern Ireland, Haugar FC of Norway before narrowly losing to Carl Zeiss Jena FC of East Germany.

By the late 1980s Newport County were experiencing financial difficulties (and eventually went out of business in 1989), and in 1986 Kendall was sold to Wolverhampton Wanderers - now languishing in the basement division of English football. But he played his part in their revival, aiding them in two consecutive promotions to the second division. In 1988 Wolves also went all the way to Wembley, where they beat Burnley 2-0 in the final of the Sherpa Vans Trophy (Football League Trophy).

A family man close to his homeland at heart, Kendall was transferred to Swansea in 1990, and after two years here he hung up his boots. He did, however, briefly come out of retirement in 2000 when he turned out for Welsh Premier League side Cwmbran in an encounter against Barry Town, who fielded in goal Lee Kendall, his son.

At the age of 34 Mark Kendall joined Gwent Police, becoming a DC. He worked as a patrol officer and in CID before moving to training, and in 2007 he was named national police trainer of the year. He had received two police commendations, one for an off-duty arrest having witnessed an assault by four men, and another for bravery, when in 2000 he was confronted by a man brandishing a chainsaw, successfully disarming him. "Appearing at Wembley wasn’t such an adrenalin rush as having that saw jabbed at me," he said.

Mark Kendall also played and managed football for Gwent Police and the Welsh Police International team side. His son, Lee, plays for Rhyl in the Principality Welsh Premier League.

He is survived by his wife Gaynor, and a son and daughter.

Mark Kendall, footballer and policeman, was born on September 20, 1958. He died of a heart attack on May 1, 2008, aged 49