Brendan Jason Kiernan (born 10 November 1992) is an English professional

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

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

EFL League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

club

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 ...

. He spent his early youth career at

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 87,889 as of 2011. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, char ...

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

and Crystal Palace before joining

AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional Association football, football club, based in London Borough of Merton, Merton, London, that plays in the EFL League Two, after being relegated from the EFL League One following the 2021–22 EFL Leagu ...

at the age of 16. He made his league debut for AFC Wimbledon as a substitute on 18 March 2011, at the age of 18. He joined Walsall on 1 July 2021. He spent the first half of the 2022–23 season on loan at Grimsby Town.

Early life

Kiernan grew up near Arsenal's Highbury Stadium, and was an Arsenal fan.

Club career

Early career

Kiernan started his career in the youth team at Fulham, but left as a youngster to join Crystal Palace. He stayed with the club until he was 16, but was released at the end of the season in 2009. He then underwent unsuccessful trials at QPR, Derby County, Charlton, Southend, Leeds and Leicester. He then joined the AFC Wimbledon Senior Academy at South Thames College, where he got picked for the England Colleges team.

AFC Wimbledon

The midfielder made his league debut for "The Dons" in a

Conference A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main p ...

game against Crawley Town in a 3–1 defeat on 18 March 2011, coming on as a substitute for

Luke Moore Luke Isaacc Moore (born 13 February 1986) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. Moore represented England at England U21 level and is the younger brother of former professional footballer Stefan Moore. Club ca ...

. Kiernan only featured in one more game in the 2010–11 season, a 0–0 draw with Forest Green Rovers, which was his first League start for the club, securing a place in the Conference play-offs. Following AFC Wimbledon's promotion to the

Football league The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

Kiernan made his football league debut on 24 September 2011 when he came on as a substitute for

in a 2–1 win over

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

. On 27 January 2012, Kiernan signed for

Braintree Town Braintree Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Braintree, Essex, England. They are currently members of and play at Cressing Road. History The club was formed on 24 September 1898 as Manor Works, the works team o ...

on a one-month loan deal, making four appearances in total. Kiernan scored his first goal in professional football in the First Round of the League Cup against

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a large town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevena ...

on 14 August 2012. It would only prove to be a consolation, however, as

went on to be defeated 3–1. Having broken into the first team under manager Terry Brown at the start of the 2012 season, Kiernan left the club by mutual consent on 8 April 2013 under new manager

Neal Ardley Neal Christopher Ardley (born 1 September 1972) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a right midfielder. He is currently the manager of Solihull Moors. Ardley was capped at Under-21 level by England. Ar ...

Bromley

Following his departure from Wimbledon, Kiernan joined his local club

Conference South The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the N ...

side

in July 2013. After impressing in pre-season, he scored on his debut, netting the first goal in a 2–0 away victory against Hayes and Yeading United on 17 August 2013. A week later, he scored Bromley's third goal in a 5–1 win over local rivals

Tonbridge Angels Tonbridge Angels Football Club is a professional football club based in Tonbridge, Kent, England. The club was founded as Tonbridge Football Club in 1947 and became known as "The Angels" in 1949 when they started playing at the Angel Ground. S ...

. During his non-league career Kiernan worked as a teaching assistant and a personal trainer.

Ebbsfleet United

On 5 June 2015, Kiernan's contract with Ebbsfleet expired. He nearly retired from the game, but signed for Lingfield.

Harrogate Town

After a season at

Welling United Welling United Football Club is a professional football club, based in Welling in the London Borough of Bexley, England. The club's first team play in the National League South, at the sixth tier of English football. History Welling United Foot ...

, after again reaching the play off final, it was announced in May 2019, that Kiernan had joined

Harrogate Town Harrogate Town A.F.C. is a professional association football club in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England, which competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed the Sulphurites, due to the ...

Walsall

Kiernan joined League Two side

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...

on a two-year contract on 1 July 2021. In November 2021 it was revealed that he was training to become a counsellor, and also acted as a mentor to young players released by clubs. On 21 July 2022, Kiernan signed for Grimsby Town on loan until January 2023. On 24 January 2023, Grimsby decided against extending the loan deal for Kiernan, he had played 28 times in all competitions for the Mariners.

Hartlepool United

On 31 January 2023, Kiernan signed for

side

on a permanent deal.

Personal Life

Kiernan is a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

Career statistics

Honours

Hampton & Richmond *

Isthmian Premier Division The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 teams ...

: 2015–16 Harrogate Town *

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

play-offs:

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

: 2019–20

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kiernan, Brendan 1992 births Living people Footballers from Lambeth English footballers Association football midfielders AFC Wimbledon players Braintree Town F.C. players Bromley F.C. players Staines Town F.C. players Ebbsfleet United F.C. players Lingfield F.C. players Hayes & Yeading United F.C. players Hampton & Richmond Borough F.C. players Welling United F.C. players Harrogate Town A.F.C. players Walsall F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players National League (English football) players English Football League players Isthmian League players English Christians