Ciaran Paul McKenna (born 25 March 1998) is a Scottish 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

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. McKenna has previously played for

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 ...

Hamilton Academical Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish association football, football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Hamilton, South Lanarkshire who currently compete in the Scottish Championshi ...

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. ...

and Queen of the South.

Early life

McKenna was born in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

and was educated at

Cardinal Newman High School, Bellshill Cardinal Newman High School is a Roman Catholic, co-educational, comprehensive secondary school located in Bellshill, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. The school was formed by the amalgamation of Elmwood Secondary, St. Saviour's High School and S ...

, and

St Ninian's High School, Kirkintilloch St. Ninian's High School is a Roman Catholic co-educational comprehensive secondary school, located in Kirkintilloch, East Dunbartonshire, on the banks of the Forth and Clyde Canal. Admissions There are currently over 900 students in attenda ...

. McKenna played in the Celtic Academy, before turning down the offer of a three-year professional contract with the club, to accept the offer of a scholarship with

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

Club career

Early career

McKenna had 42 appearances with the

Duke Blue Devils The Duke Blue Devils are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Duke University, located in Durham, North Carolina. Duke's athletics department features 27 varsity teams that all compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Associatio ...

over three seasons and scored two goals. McKenna also spent a spell during 2017 playing for

Jacksonville Armada U-23 Jacksonville Armada U-23 are an American soccer team based in Jacksonville, Florida. They play in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), the fourth tier of the American soccer pyramid, and are part of the development system of the Jacksonville ...

in the

National Premier Soccer League The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) is an American men's association football, soccer league. The NPSL is a semi-professional league, comprising some teams that have paid players and some that are entirely amateur. The league is officially ...

Falkirk

In January 2019, McKenna joined

. McKenna had 17 league appearances and scored two goals in his debut season as a professional with the Bairns.

Hamilton Academical

In June 2019, McKenna joined

and had four league appearances and also four

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 ...

matches for the Accies.

Partick Thistle

In August 2020, McKenna joined

on a two-year contract. McKenna had 34 league appearances and scored one goal, as well as 14 cup matches for the Harry Wraggs.

Queen of the South

On 24 June 2022, McKenna joined Queen of the South on a one-year contract. McKenna was released by the ''Doonhamers'' at the end of the 2022-23 season.

Personal life

Between 14 November 2015 and 27 January 2016, McKenna was accused of rape by a fellow student at

. The establishment then issued a six-semester suspension, which upon appeal by McKenna was increased to a ten-semester suspension, but this was overturned by legal action on a technicality as to the university's "double jeopardy" policy. In June 2022, McKenna, married Jamaica Women's national team player

Kayla McCoy Kayla Jay McKenna (; born 3 September 1996) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for Spanish Liga F club Villarreal CF. Born in the United States, she plays for the Jamaica women's national team. Club career Houston Dash In Apr ...

in Oak Park, Illinois, USA. The pair met in college.

Career statistics

Honours

Club

;Partick Thistle *

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 ...

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:McKenna, Ciaran 1998 births Living people Scottish men's footballers Falkirk F.C. players Scottish Professional Football League players Men's association football defenders Hamilton Academical F.C. players Celtic F.C. players Scottish expatriate men's footballers Scottish expatriates in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Duke Blue Devils men's soccer players Partick Thistle F.C. players National Premier Soccer League players Queen of the South F.C. players Jacksonville Armada U-23 players People educated at St Ninian's High School, Kirkintilloch