Jeff Kenna

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Jeff Kenna
Personnel
Surname Jeffrey Jude Kenna
birthday August 27, 1970
place of birth Dublin ,  Ireland
position Full-back (right)
Juniors
Years station
1987-1989 Southampton FC
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
1989-1995 Southampton FC 114 (4)
1995-2002 Blackburn Rovers 155 (1)
2001 →  Tranmere Rovers  (loan) 11 (0)
2001 →  Wigan Athletic  (loan) 6 (0)
2001-2002 →  Birmingham City  (loan) 6 (0)
2002-2004 Birmingham City 69 (3)
2004-2006 Derby County 65 (0)
2006-2008 Kidderminster Harriers 57 (1)
2008 Galway United 6 (0)
National team
Years selection Games (goals)
1995-1999 Ireland 27 (0)
Stations as a trainer
Years station
2008-2009 Galway United
2009 St Patrick's Athletic
1 Only league games are given.

Jeffrey Jude "Jeff" Kenna (born August 27, 1970 in Dublin ) is a former Irish football player and current coach . As a full-back , who preferred to act on the right side, he was best known in the Premier League as a player for Southampton FC and Blackburn Rovers . With the "Rovers" he celebrated his greatest success in 1995 when he won the English championship .

Athletic career

Player career

Club stations

Born in the Irish capital, Kenna began his footballing career in England in June 1987 with Southampton FC . After being promoted to the professional division two years later, he had to wait some time for his debut and on May 4, 1991 against Derby County with a 2-6 defeat, it was extremely unfortunate. He remained a substitute for Jason Dodd until January 1992 , before he established himself as a regular on the right-back position at the "Saints", where he could also be used on the left. He was an integral part of the team until March 1995 before moving to Blackburn Rovers for a transfer fee of 1.5 million pounds .

The Rovers were on their way to winning the English championship and Kenna played his part in the remaining nine league games. He initially acted as a left defender for Graeme Le Saux , who moved up into midfield, and then moved to the right side. With the nine league appearances he missed the minimum number of games to receive an official championship medal, but the management of the Blackburn Rovers subsequently organized the award for the newcomer. In the following season 1995/96 Kenna mostly represented the long-term injured Le Saux on the left side of defense, which always seemed a bit strange with him. When Le Saux finally returned and Chris Coleman also struggled with injuries as a right-back, Kenna returned to his traditional side and knew how to convince again after a period of acclimatization. In contrast to the previous time, he had earned his status as a regular player. Although Kenna lost his place at the beginning of the 1998/99 season to the newcomer Christian Dailly , but in October 1998 he won his post back. In February 1999 he had to take a short break due to a calf injury after playing for weeks despite this injury. The sporting development of the club was overall disappointing and Blackburn rose in 1999 to the second division . There Kenna had to struggle with Achilles tendon problems in the 1999/2000 season and after a last appearance on January 10, 2000 in the FA Cup against Liverpool (0: 1), his season ended prematurely. A comeback attempt in March resulted in a relapse and Kenna had to undergo another operation. The way back to the regular formation was then blocked by John Curtis , who was signed up in 2000 . During the 2000/01 season, Blackburn the resurgence brought, he came only occasionally used, and instead, he helped from mid-March the 2001 league rivals Tranmere Rovers , which in turn was at the end of Table from. In Blackburn, Kenna completed no more league games after his return. Instead, he was loaned to third division club Wigan Athletic in November 2001 and then to second division club Birmingham City in late December . In Birmingham he knew how to convince with good performances that he achieved a long-term contract from February 2002 and was transferred to the role of team captain. Through the play-off games, he was promoted to the Premier League with the new club right away - Birmingham was back in the top English division for the first time in almost 20 years.

Back in the Premier League, he was an important factor on the way to relegation as team captain and regular right-back, who once again occasionally helped out on the left side, and in late November 2003 he scored one of his rare goals in a 1-1 draw against Tottenham Hotspur . Shortly after the beginning of the following 2003/04 season, Kenna lost his regular place to first Damien Johnson and then Olivier Tébily , before he reported back in December 2003 and scored two important goals within a short time (including the 2-1 winning goal against his former club from Southampton). However, the signs were on a change and after the second division Derby County had tried for a few months, he was hired there in March 2004. At this point Derby was plagued by injury concerns in the relegation battle and Kenna was able to help the team to a little stability. Although he twisted his ankle in an Easter Monday game against Bradford City , he was back in the decisive 2-0 win against Millwall FC . The following year Kenna reached the play-offs for promotion to the Premier League with Derby . There he failed in the semifinals at Preston North End . In his last year for Derby County, Kenna, who had meanwhile been promoted to captain, was again part of the relegation battle. After a heavy defeat against Coventry City , he had to help out in central defense and after coach Phil Brown was eliminated, he assisted interim successor Terry Westley. In mid-2006, Kenna's engagement ended after the end of the contract period.

Then Kenna let his active career outside of professional football with the Kidderminster Harriers from June 2006. The last highlight there was his participation in the 2007 finals in the FA Trophy , where he lost 3-2 with his men Stevenage Borough .

Irish national team

Kenna made her debut for the Irish senior team against Portugal in 1995 . In the same year he was after his move to the Blackburn Rovers with winning the English championship at his sporting climax. In the following years he was a constant on the right Irish defense side and 19 of his 27 international appearances until 1999 were competitive games in qualifying for the 1998 World Cup in France ) (10) and the Euro 2000 (9). He was unable to take part in the finals and his last game was a 0-0 play-off against Turkey , which in November 1999 meant a narrow failure in qualifying. In October 2002 he was reappointed to the Irish squad as a "backup".

Coaching activities

In April 2008, Kenna took on his first position as head coach in Ireland for the first division club Galway United . United was bottom of the table at the time and since there was no financial leeway for new signings and top performers had to be sold, Kenna, who also acted as player- coach, largely relied on young inexperienced forces. A new team spirit quickly developed, which he made a series of five wins in seven games possible with only one defeat. The relegation could just be averted and since the semi-finals were also reached in the League Cup and the FAI Cup , the signs were good for continued employment. Ultimately, however, Kenna decided against continuing the commitment and shortly afterwards he found a follow-up job with St Patrick's Athletic in January 2009 .

The performances at his new club were mixed and the constant commuting between Ireland and England, where his family continued to live, Kenna was not very popular with the supporters. Since the team was particularly convincing in the Europa League (for example against the Russian representative Krylja Sowetow Samara ), things seemed to smooth out a bit. Ultimately, however, Kenna took a 2-0 loss to Waterford United in the quarter-finals of the FAI Cup on September 18 as an occasion for his resignation.

In August 2011, Kenna joined the coaching staff at IMG Academy in Bradenton , Florida .

Title / Awards

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Hugman, Barry J .: Premier League: The Players - A Complete Guide to Every Player 1992-93 . Tony Williams Publishing, 1992, ISBN 1-869833-15-5 , pp. 217 .
  2. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1995-96 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1995, ISBN 0-09-180854-5 , pp. 117 .
  3. ^ "This Official Premier League Infographic Says There Have Only Been Four Premier League Winners From The Republic Of Ireland" (Balls.ie)
  4. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1996-97 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1996, ISBN 1-85291-571-4 , pp. 135 .
  5. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1997-98 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1997, ISBN 1-85291-581-1 , pp. 154 .
  6. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1998-99 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1998, ISBN 1-85291-588-9 , pp. 167 .
  7. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1999-2000 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1999, ISBN 1-85291-607-9 , pp. 170 f .
  8. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 2000-2001 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2000, ISBN 1-85291-626-5 , pp. 183 .
  9. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 2001-2002 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2001, ISBN 0-946531-34-X , pp. 170 .
  10. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2002/2003 . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2002, ISBN 1-85291-648-6 , pp. 231 .
  11. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2003/2004 . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2003, ISBN 1-85291-651-6 , pp. 240 .
  12. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2004/2005 . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2004, ISBN 1-85291-660-5 , pp. 229 f .
  13. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2005/2006 . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2005, ISBN 1-85291-662-1 , pp. 230 .
  14. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2006-07 . Mainstream Publishing, 2006, ISBN 1-84596-111-0 , pp. 229 .
  15. ↑ "Kidderminster 2-3 Stevenage" (BBC Sport)
  16. ↑ "Kenna's goal puts light on game's unsung heroes" (The Irish Echo)
  17. ^ "McCarthy recalls Kenna to Ireland squad" (The Irish Times)
  18. ^ "Jeff Kenna unveiled as new Galway United boss" (Extra Time)
  19. ^ A b "Former Birmingham City defender Jeff Kenna heads to Florida to pursue American dream" (Birmingham Mail)
  20. ^ "Kenna resigns as St Pat's manager" (Irish Times)
personal data
SURNAME Kenna, Jeff
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kenna, Jeffrey Jude (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Irish football player and current coach
DATE OF BIRTH August 27, 1970
PLACE OF BIRTH Dublin