Aidan Keena (born 25 April 1999) is an Irish

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league syst ...

. He has previously played for

St Patrick's Athletic St Patrick's Athletic Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Lúthchleas Phádraig Naofa) is a professional Irish association football club based in Inchicore, Dublin, that plays in the Irish Premier Division. Founded in May 1929, they played origin ...

, Heart of Midlothian,

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded in 1908 as Hartle ...

, Queen's Park,

Dunfermline Athletic Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently play in Scottish League One after being relegated from the 2021–22 Scottish Championship. Dunfermline ...

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a ...

and

Sligo Rovers Sligo Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí Shligigh) is an Irish professional football club playing in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland. The club is based in Sligo in the west of Ireland. The club was founded in 1928 ...

Club career

St Patrick's Athletic

Keena, a member of the

under 19's squad, was called up to the first team by manager

Liam Buckley Liam Buckley (born 14 April 1960), is an Irish former professional footballer. He made two appearances for the Republic of Ireland national football team. He was most recently the manager of League of Ireland Premier Division club Sligo Rover ...

for pre-season in January 2017 despite being just 17 years old. He scored on his first team debut, in a 5–0 win over Bluebell United in a friendly. Keena made his first official appearance in senior football on 24 February 2017 when he came on as a 67th-minute substitute in the Saints opening game of the season against

Bray Wanderers Bray Wanderers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Fánaithe Bhré) are an Irish association football club playing in the League of Ireland First Division. The club in its present form was founded in 1942 in Bray, and was known until 2010 as ''B ...

. With Pats trailing 2–0, Kenna set up Graham Kelly for an 85th-minute goal before being shown a straight red card in the 91st minute for a late tackle on Dylan Connolly. Keena went on to make four more appearances for the club (two league and two

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

) in the 2017 season, with the last of those being a Dublin Derby against

Bohemians Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...

on 16 June 2017.

Heart of Midlothian

Keena was signed by Heart of Midlothian in August 2017. After impressing first team staff with his goalscoring form for the reserves, he was called up to the first team and made his debut as a late substitute in a 1–1 draw versus

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland. Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908. ...

Tynecastle Park Tynecastle Park is a football stadium in the Gorgie area of Edinburgh, which is the home ground of Scottish Professional Football League club Heart of Midlothian (Hearts). It has also hosted Scotland international matches, and been used as a ...

on 19 November 2017. Keena was loaned to

Scottish League One The Scottish League One, known as cinch League One for sponsorship reasons, is the third tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish League One was e ...

club Queen's Park in January 2018. In August 2018, he joined

in the

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship, known as the cinch Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland Scotland (, ...

on a season-long loan. After a promising few months with Dunfermline, Keena was recalled to Hearts in January, scoring his first goal for the club in a 4–0 victory against

Auchinleck Talbot Auchinleck Talbot Football Club is a Scottish football club based in Auchinleck, East Ayrshire. They currently play in the . The club is also a member of the Scottish Junior Football Association, and have won the Scottish Junior Cup on a reco ...

in the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

and

Berwick Rangers Berwick Rangers Football Club is a football team based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, England, just south of the border with Scotland. Founded in 1881, they currently play in the , the fifth tier of Scottish football, despite hailing fr ...

. He scored his first goal for the club in a 2–0 win against

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional association football, football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they wer ...

on 25 January 2020.

Falkirk

After leaving Hartlepool, Keena returned to Scotland and signed a two-year deal with

side

on 5 August 2020. On 24 January 2022, it was announced that Keena had left

by mutual consent after 8 goals in 38 appearances for the club.

Sligo Rovers

On 24 January 2022, Keena signed for

League of Ireland Premier Division The League of Ireland Premier Division ( ga, Príomhroinn Sraith na hÉireann), also known as the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division for sponsorship reasons, is the top level division in both the League of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland f ...

club

and quickly established himself. Keena made his debut on 25 February 2022, scoring the winner in a 2–1 victory away to his first senior club

. On 14 March 2022, he scored a hat-trick in a 3–1 win over

Finn Harps Finn Harps Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Chláirsigh na Finne) are an Irish football club that play in the First Division of the League of Ireland, as of 2023. The club was founded in 1954 and elected to the league in 1969. However, it was te ...

at The Showgrounds. Keena was named

League of Ireland Player of the Month The League of Ireland Player of the Month is awarded monthly to the best player in the League of Ireland. The winners are selected by Soccer Writers' Ireland, commonly known as the SWI (formerly known as Soccer Writers' Association of Ireland). Win ...

for March 2022, following a great start to life at his new club, scoring 5 goals in his first 6 appearances. He scored a brace in a 3–1 win at home to Shelbourne on 2 July 2022, his 10th and 11th goals of the season, to return to the top of the goal scoring charts in the league. On 7 July 2022, he scored on his debut in European football, scoring the equaliser in a 2–1 win away to

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

side

Bala Town Bala Town Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed y Bala) is a Welsh football team from Bala, Gwynedd, who play in the Cymru Premier. They play their home games at Maes Tegid. History For a full history see; '' List of Bala Town FC seasons'' Al ...

in the

UEFA Europa Conference League The UEFA Europa Conference League (abbreviated as UECL) is an annual football club competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. Clubs qualify for the competition based on their ...

. On 21 July 2022, Keena scored the winning goal in a 1–0 victory away to

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...

in the

. He was named

for July 2022, his second time winning the award. Keena finished the 2022 season as

top goalscorer with 18 goals. He ended the 2022 season with 21 goals in all competitions, two in the

UEFA Conference League The UEFA Europa Conference League (abbreviated as UECL) is an annual football club competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. Clubs qualify for the competition based on thei ...

, one in the

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Extra.ie FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as Derry ...

and eighteen in the league. He played a huge role in the attack for Rovers that year, also contributing 5 assists. Despite finishing as the top goalscorer and with 2 Player of the Month awards, he was not nominated for

PFAI Players' Player of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association of Ireland Players' Player of the Year (often called the PFAI Players' Player of the Year, the Players' Player of the Year, or simply the Irish Player of the Year) award is given to the footballer the Lea ...

Cheltenham Town

On 29 January 2023, Keena signed for

for an undisclosed fee, reported as surpassing the club's previous record transfer of £50,000.

International career

Keena has represented the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

at Under-17, Under-18 and Under-19 level. On 6 November 2019, Keena was announced in Stephen Kenny's Republic of Ireland U21 side for the first time, for their European Under-21 Championship qualification games against Armenia U21 & Sweden U21.

Career statistics

Honours

Individual

Top Scorer:

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

(19 goal) *

Player of the Month: March 2022, July 2022, *

PFAI Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association of Ireland Team of the Year (often called the PFAI Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to the group of eleven players voted by their fellow players as having perform ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keena, Aidan 1999 births Living people Association footballers from County Westmeath Heart of Midlothian F.C. players Scottish Professional Football League players League of Ireland players Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Men's association football forwards St Patrick's Athletic F.C. players Republic of Ireland men's youth international footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Republic of Ireland expatriate men's association footballers Queen's Park F.C. players Dunfermline Athletic F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players Expatriate men's footballers in England Falkirk F.C. players Sligo Rovers F.C. players Irish expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Irish expatriate sportspeople in England Cheltenham Town F.C. players National League (English football) players People from Mullingar