Dudley was born in Boscastle in Cornwall and made his senior footballing debut at the age of 13 for Tintagel in the Cornish League before joining Torquay United as a 16-year-old. He joined the RAF and played wartime football for Birmingham City and Torquay. In 1947 Dudley signed for Northampton Town for a fee of £3,000 but was only with the Cobblers for a short spell as he was taken on by Birmingham City.

After Birmingham City the Cornishman signed for then non-league Shrewsbury before moving on to Kettering Town and then Brierley Hill where he was part of the side that beat Nuneaton Borough in the Birmingham Senior Cup final. Dudley joined Nuneaton Borough in September 1953 and became an important part of the side that defeated Watford 3-0 and took Queens Park Rangers to a replay before narrowly losing out 2-1 at Manor Park. The following season Boro again played Football League opposition, going down 2-1 to Brentford.

After leaving Nuneaton he joined Hinckley Athletic, then had a spell with Kidderminster Harriers before becoming youth team coach at Coventry City during the Jimmy Hill era. Kernick became manager of Southern League Hinckley Athletic in 1959 and got them promotion to the Southern League Premier Division in 1962-63. He left Hinckley to move into broadcasting before signing a five year contract with Nuneaton Borough, guiding the club to the Third Round of the FA Cup before they were knocked out by Rotherham United after a replay.

Dudley became secretary and commercial manager at Manor Park but left the club by mutual consent, believing that they lacked ambition. In 1970 he joined Stoke City where he was a very successful commercial manager up until 1985.

After his football career ended Dudley moved to Florida before returning to Nuneaton in 2015. As well as having a successful career in football Dudley was a published author, writing a horror story (The Devil of Trehorra) and his autobiography (Who The Hell Was Dudley Kernick).

Everyone at Nuneaton Borough would like to offer their sincere condolences to Dudley’s family. RIP.