Kenny Cunningham

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Kenny Cunningham
KennyCunningham cropped.jpg
Personnel
Surname Kenneth Edward Cunningham
birthday June 28, 1971
place of birth Dublin ,  Ireland
size 183 cm
position Defense
Juniors
Years station
Home farm
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
until 1989 Tolka Rovers
1989-1994 Millwall FC 136 (1)
1994-2002 Wimbledon FC 250 (0)
2002-2006 Birmingham City 134 (0)
2006-2007 Sunderland AFC 11 (0)
National team
Years selection Games (goals)
Ireland U-21 4 (?)
Ireland B 2 (?)
1996-2005 Ireland 72 (0)
1 Only league games are given.

Kenneth Edward "Kenny" Cunningham (born June 28, 1971 in Dublin ) is a former Irish football player . The defender, who was mostly alternatively also used on the right side, on the other defensive positions, was in the top two English leagues for Millwall FC , the FC Wimbledon , Birmingham City and the AFC Sunderland active. In addition, he made a total of 72 international appearances for the Irish senior team between 1996 and 2005 , took part in the 2002 World Cup and was Ireland's captain for the last three years up to 2005.

Athletic career

Club career

Beginnings: Via Dublin to Millwall (until 1994)

Born in the Irish capital, Cunningham attended St. Vincent's School in Glasnevin , which played more Gaelic football than soccer. In his younger years he maintained contact with two sports until, after years at Home Farm, a football club known for its good youth work , he decided against Gaelic football in the late 1980s. His path first led him to the amateur club Tolka Rovers , from where he left for London in 1989 to start a professional football career there at Millwall FC .

He completed the 1989/90 season "on trial", i.e. the original contract only had a one-year term. He made his debut on March 17, 1990 in the First Division , which was then the top English division, against Norwich City (1: 1) on the right side of the defense. Although the club eventually relegated bottom of the table, Cunningham had come four more times. The club management extended the contract with him for two more years. Overall, Cunningham remained with the "Lions" until November 1994, with the desired resurgence neither under Bruce Rioch nor Mick McCarthy from the 1992/93 season. He only matured into a regular player on the right under his compatriot McCarthy; previously he had not got beyond the status of the supplementary player and was used in equal parts on the left wing or in the center.

Wimbledon FC (1994-2002)

For 1.25 million pounds he moved in early November 1994 "as a package" with Jon Goodman in the Premier League at Wimbledon FC . With the “Dons” he immediately won a regular place - occasionally as part of a three-way defensive chain -, showed himself to be safe on the ball and also effective in offensive actions by successfully “overflowing”. With the exception of a suspension of six games, Cunningham was also "permanently present" in the 1995/96 season and, especially after Christmas 1995, his form improved so much that he attracted the interest of the Irish senior team. The best league placement in his career succeeded Cunningham in the 1996/97 season with eighth place , to which he ultimately contributed 36 appearances in the starting line-up and a number of goal preparations through passes and cross runs.

Overall, he matured more and more into a reliable key player in the defense network, whether as a right defender, as a so-called "wingback" outside in the 3-5-2 system or in the center. Cunningham, who was named Ireland's national player of the year in 1998 , was also valued for his good anticipatory skills and leadership qualities, which were often expressed in clear speeches to teammates on the pitch. In the 1999/2000 season, Cunningham represented the injured captain Robbie Earle for a short time . He usually showed the usual consistently good performance, whether in his traditional right defensive position or in the case of injury concerns on the left side or in central defense. He was used in 37 of 38 championship games and was only missing on "Black Sunday" when the game against Southampton FC sealed relegation to the second division. In the second division season 2000/01 Cunningham had to pause for a long time because of a groin injury and only in late January 2001 he returned to the team. From then on, the veteran, who had meanwhile been promoted to captain, formed the defense center with Mark Williams . It was followed by a last season 2001/02, in which he remained in a heavily rebuilt defensive network, the last constant, before he took the opportunity to return to the Premier League in July 2002 with the move to Birmingham City .

Birmingham & Sunderland (2002-2007)

The transfer fee for the promoted by Steve Bruce was £ 600,000 and in the meantime he had matured to captain the Irish national team in the middle of the defense - in the second half of the season together with Matthew Upson - with a guarantee for staying in class in 2003 . Despite some stubborn injury concerns, the Cunningham in the subsequent 2003/04 season rarely come to adequate training sessions between the game days, Cunningham was still an important factor as captain in the team that made the leap to the top half of the table .

After a suspension for two games at the beginning of the 2004/05 season, he was also in his third year for Birmingham in every game and represented the leading player, who ensured that the team could not repeat the previous year's success, but with 12th place comfortably secured relegation. However, Cunningham's fourth and final season ended with relegation as third from bottom of the Premier League . Previously, due to age, he had not shown the previous speed in the fight to stay in class, but he had compensated for some deficits with good positional play. Birmingham's spectators said goodbye to him when he was substituted for the last home game with a standing ovation. At the end of the season he received clearance to change clubs and in July 2006 a new employer was quickly found in Sunderland AFC , which like Birmingham had just been relegated to the Football League Championship .

The time in Sunderland was only a short interlude. At first he found his way into the new team, even replacing the regular captain Steven Caldwell before a thigh injury and a little later a knee injury put him out of action in September 2006. As a result, he came to the end of the season to no more use and the AFC Sunderland let him go to the end of the 2006/07 season. Thereupon Cunningham ended his active career.

Irish national team

Cunningham made 72 caps for the Irish senior team . He made his debut at the side of Paul McGrath in the defense center against the Czech Republic (0-2) in April 1996 after four appearances for the U-21 selection . Shortly afterwards, his former Millwall coach and sponsor Mick McCarthy took over the sporting direction took over, Cunningham remained a fixture in the years that followed as he rejuvenated the team with players like him, Gary Breen and Ian Harte . First, Cunningham failed in two play-off games to participate in the finals of the 1998 World Cup in France (against Belgium ) and the Euro 2000 in the Netherlands and Belgium (against Turkey ), before he - also due to injury - in the successful qualifying games for the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea was less popular, as Gary Kelly , Stephen Carr , Richard Dunne , Gary Breen and Steve Staunton were mostly preferred on the defensive . In the tournament itself he came on for Staunton twice, first shortly before the end against Germany (1: 1) and after about 50 minutes in the round of 16 against Spain , which ended with the elimination on penalties.

After the World Cup, Cunningham received the captaincy on a fixed basis after Roy Keane's retirement from McCarthy. Under his aegis, however, Ireland missed the following Euro 2004 in Portugal and when a draw against Switzerland in October 2005 also meant failure to qualify for the 2006 World Cup in Germany , Cunningham ended his career in the Irish national team.

Post-career activities

After his own playing career, Cunningham began as a football expert for the Irish broadcaster RTÉ . He also worked for the amateur club Nuneaton Town and qualified as a UEFA licensed coach.

Title / Awards

  • Irish International of the Year (1): 1998

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Schools soccer strikes back (fais.ie)
  2. ↑ Captain Cunningham (independent.ie)
  3. ↑ Cunningham Rises to Task - International Football (Sunday Times)
  4. ^ Millwall: The Complete Record (2010), pp. 442-453
  5. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1995-96 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1995, ISBN 0-09-180854-5 , pp. 54 .
  6. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1996-97 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1996, ISBN 1-85291-571-4 , pp. 64 .
  7. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1997-98 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1997, ISBN 1-85291-581-1 , pp. 67 f .
  8. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1998-99 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1998, ISBN 1-85291-588-9 , pp. 73 .
  9. ↑ Cunningham Player of the Year (independent.ie)
  10. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1999-2000 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1999, ISBN 1-85291-607-9 , pp. 73 .
  11. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 2000-2001 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2000, ISBN 1-85291-626-5 , pp. 78 .
  12. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 2001-2002 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2001, ISBN 0-946531-34-X , pp. 73 .
  13. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2002/03 . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2002, ISBN 1-85291-648-6 , pp. 99 .
  14. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2003/2004 . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2003, ISBN 1-85291-651-6 , pp. 102 f .
  15. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2004/2005 . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2004, ISBN 1-85291-660-5 , pp. 97 f .
  16. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2005/2006 . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2005, ISBN 1-85291-662-1 , pp. 97 .
  17. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2006-07 . Mainstream Publishing, 2006, ISBN 1-84596-111-0 , pp. 97 .
  18. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2007-08 . Mainstream Publishing, 2007, ISBN 978-1-84596-246-3 , pp. 96 f .
  19. ↑ a b Kenny Cunningham (premierleagueheroes.co.uk)
  20. ↑ "Hero of the Republic: Kenny Cunningham"  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (eircomsports)@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / eircomsports.eircom.net  
  21. ↑ "Kerr sees bright future, Kenny quits" (rte.ie)
personal data
SURNAME Cunningham, Kenny
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Cunningham, Kenneth Edward
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Irish soccer player
DATE OF BIRTH June 28, 1971
PLACE OF BIRTH Dublin