Conor Kenna (born 21 August 1984) is a retired 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 played 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 ...

Club career

Shelbourne & UCD

Kenna began his League of Ireland career with Shelbourne where he was a primary figure in the Reds' under 21 squad and was briefly part of their first team squad. He left Shels prior to the start of 2004 League of Ireland season to join First Division UCD for whom he helped to promotion to the Premier Division with a 2nd-place finish. His primary role was at centre back although he deputised on many occasions at left back for UCD in spite of being right footed. Kenna formed a highly successful partnership at centre back with Alan McNally in a defence that gave up the fourth fewest goals in the

2006 League of Ireland The 2006 League of Ireland Premier Division was the 22nd season of the League of Ireland Premier Division. The division was made up of 12 teams. Shelbourne were champions while Derry City finished as runners-up. However Shelbourne were subseq ...

season. Kenna was called into an Irish U-21 squad in 2005 but had to withdraw through injury. He was appointed UCD captain in the 2008 pre-season to replace the retired

Tony McDonnell Anthony "Tony" McDonnell (born 10 February 1976, in Dublin) is a retired football player for Irish side, UCD. McDonnell would spent the entirety of his career with UCD, becoming the clubs record longest serving player in history. A former St ...

. He scored his first competitive goal for UCD in a 3–2 defeat to Derry City on 7 March 2008.

Drogheda United

Following UCD's relegation to the First Division at the end of the 2008 season, Kenna signed for

Drogheda United Drogheda United Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Dhroichead Átha Aontaithe) is a semi-professional Irish association football club based in Drogheda, County Louth playing in the League of Ireland Premier Division. They play their home matches ...

in February 2009. Kenna made 38 competitive appearances and scored 5 goals for Drogheda in 2009 as the Louth club retained their Premier Division status.

St Patrick's Athletic

Kenna signed 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 ...

on 9 February 2010, linking up at the

Inchicore Inchicore () is a suburb of Dublin, Ireland. Located approximately west of the city centre, Inchicore was originally a small village separate from Dublin. The village developed around Richmond Barracks (built 1810) and Inchicore railway works (b ...

club with his former UCD manager Pete Mahon, who selected him as club captain. Kenna became a fan's favourite at Inchicore and received the St. Patrick's Athletic Supporters Club Player of the Year award in 2010. Kenna also earned the nickname 'Kennavaro' after brilliant performances similar to famous World Cup winning central defender

Fabio Cannavaro Fabio Cannavaro (; born 13 September 1973) is an Italian professional football coach and former player. He is the current head coach of club Benevento. A centre-back, he spent the majority of his career in Italy. He started his career at Napo ...

. He played every minute of every game in all competitions for the Saints in 2010 and didn't get a single yellow or red card all season. It was widely speculated that Kenna would join 2010 league winners and

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

rivals

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí na Seamróige) is an Irish association football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is the most su ...

but he stayed loyal to his club and this made him even more of a popular figure with the fans. 2011 looked to be a promising season for the

Saints In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual res ...

but his footballing career came into doubt when he sustained an injury to a tendon in his knee in the second league 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 ...

Richmond Park Richmond Park, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, is the largest of Royal Parks of London, London's Royal Parks, and is of national and international importance for wildlife conservation. It was created by Charles I of England, C ...

on 11 March. He returned from his long injury setback in a 0–0 draw away to

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 ...

on 27 July, Kenna wasn't expected to return so early as he was still building up his fitness but Mahon was forced to play him due to players being tired from a tough game against

FC Shakhter Karagandy Football Club Shakhter ( kk, "Шахтер" футбол клубы, Shakhter fýtbol klýby), commonly referred to as FC Shakhter Karagandy ( kk, Қарағанды/Qarağandı ;Russian: Караганда/Karaganda), is a professional footba ...

and he lasted the first 68 minutes before being replaced by Brian Shortall. Kenna went on to regain his place in the starting line up, pushing Shortall to the bench. Kenna scored in a 1–0 win over

Sligo Sligo ( ; ga, Sligeach , meaning 'abounding in shells') is a coastal seaport and the county town of County Sligo, Ireland, within the western province of Connacht. With a population of approximately 20,000 in 2016, it is the List of urban areas ...

in a huge match in the 2011 title run-in After Kenna returned from injury his performances were just a shadow of his 2010 performances which many fans put down to finding his feet again after the long period without playing games. Indeed, they were correct as Kenna regained his excellent form in defence and the Saints found themselves with 3 clean sheets and just 2 goals conceded after the first 5 games of the 2012 season. Kenna played a big part in Pats' 2012 Europa League campaign, playing every game and setting up Stephen O'Flynn's goal against

Íþróttabandalag Vestmannaeyja Íþróttabandalag Vestmannaeyja (ÍBV) is an Icelandic multi-sports district association from Vestmannaeyjar Vestmannaeyjar (, sometimes anglicized as Westman Islands) is a municipality and archipelago off the south coast of Iceland. The la ...

extra-time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...

at the

Hásteinsvöllur Hásteinsvöllur () is a multi-use stadium in Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland. It is located in the town of Vestmannaeyjar on the island of Heimaey. It is used mostly for football matches, and is the home ground of Íþróttabandalag Vestmannaeyja ...

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

and also setting up

Christy Fagan Christopher Joseph Fagan (born 11 May 1989), known as Chris or Christy Fagan, is a retired Irish footballer who played as a forward. He last played for St Patrick's Athletic in the League of Ireland Premier Division. Club career Born in Dubli ...

's winning goal in

against

NK Široki Brijeg Nogometni klub Široki Brijeg ( en, Široki Brijeg Football Club) is a professional association football club from the city of Široki Brijeg, that is situated in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Currently, Široki Brijeg plays in the Premier League of ...

from

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

to earn a tie against

Hannover 96 Hannoverscher Sportverein von 1896, commonly referred to as Hannover 96 (), Hannover, HSV or simply 96, is a German professional football club based in the city of Hanover, Lower Saxony. They played in the Bundesliga for a total of 30 years betwe ...

, whom he played against in the 49,000 seater

AWD-Arena Niedersachsenstadion (, ) is a football stadium in Hanover, Lower Saxony, Germany, which is home to football club Hannover 96. The original 86,000-capacity stadium was completed in 1954 and has since been rebuilt several times for various ...

. He captained the Pats side in their first ever appearance at the

Aviva Stadium Aviva Stadium (also known as Lansdowne Road) is a sports stadium located in Dublin, Ireland, with a capacity for 51,700 spectators (all seated). It is built on the site of the former Lansdowne Road Stadium, which was demolished in 2007, and r ...

in the 2012 FAI Cup Final on 4 November 2012, but unfortunately for Kenna and the Saints, they lost 3–2 after extra time to Derry City meaning the club's

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 ...

drought was extended to 52 years. Kenna continued his excellent form alongside his partner at

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 ...

, Kenny Browne into the 2013 season, with the captain maintaining his spot in the starting eleven and heavily contributing to what was the joint best defence in the league, with just 10 goals conceded after 20 games, as his Pats side sat top of the league. He made his 350th career appearance in a famous 4–0 win away to

in the South Dublin derby on 9 August 2013. Kenna made his 100th league appearance for Pats on 16 August 2013 in a 1–0 over Shelbourne at

. On 13 October 2013, one year on from losing the 2012 title to

as a result of a last minute penalty given against Kenna, he marked his 150th appearance for Pats by skippering the team to a 2–0 win at home to

to clinch the 2013 League title. Kenna lifted the

League of Ireland The League of Ireland ( ga, Sraith na hÉireann), together with the Football Association of Ireland, is one of the two main governing bodies responsible for organising association football in the Republic of Ireland. The term was originally us ...

trophy at

on 20 October 2013 following a 1–1 draw with Derry City, Pats' ninth league title. Kenna's last game for the Saints was in a 4–2 loss away to

Cork City Cork ( , from , meaning 'marsh') is the second largest city in Ireland and third largest city by population on the island of Ireland. It is located in the south-west of Ireland, in the province of Munster. Following an extension to the city' ...

on the final day of the season.

Shamrock Rovers

Kenna signed for

in November 2013 Conor's only goal for Rovers was scored in the 26 July 2015 league match at Tallaght Stadium against Limerick FC, a 4–1 home win.

Bray Wanderers

Conor signed for Bray Wanderers in December 2015, and spent three seasons with the Wicklow club, most of them as captain on the pitch or as Club Captain.

Longford Town

Having departed Bray after the 2018 season, Kenna signed for

Longford Town Longford () is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It has a population of 10,008 according to the 2016 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the meet ...

in February 2019. He helped Longford to a third-place finish in the 2019 First Division season and was named on the PFAI First Division Team of the Year. He announced his retirement from the game on 28 November 2019.

Later career

In 2018 and 2019, Kenna worked with the

PFAI The Professional Footballers' Association of Ireland (PFAI) is the representative body for professional and semi-professional footballers in Republic of Ireland. Players from all nationalities in the League of Ireland are represented, not just Iri ...

to help out-of-contract players land League of Ireland clubs. On 10 January 2020, Kenna returned from his retirement to play for Irish Leinster Senior League club Kilnamanagh AFC until the summer 2020, the club he also played for as a child. Kenna already worked for the club as director of coaching for the past 12 months, before joining the playing squad.

International career

In October 2000, Kenna played for the Republic of Ireland U16s in a qualifying tournament in

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

for the

2001 UEFA European Under-16 Championship The 2001 UEFA European Under-16 Championship was the 19th edition of UEFA's European Under-16 Football Championship. It was the last under-16 championship, before changing the name as under-17 championships. England hosted the championship, during ...

where he came up against

Andrés Iniesta Andrés Iniesta Luján (; born 11 May 1984) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder and is the captain of J1 League club Vissel Kobe. Considered one of the greatest midfielders of all time, Iniesta has spent most of his ...

. He made his debut at U23 level in November 2007 in the 2007–09 International Challenge Trophy . His second appearance came in May 2008. He made his third and last appearance at this level in a defeat to Belgium in October 2008.

Honours

Club

;St Patrick's Athletic *

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 ...

(1):

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

* Leinster Senior Cup (1):

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

Individual

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 ...

(1): March 2010 * PFAI Premier Division Team of the Year (1):

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

* PFAI First Division Team of the Year (1):

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Player of the Season (1):

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kenna, Conor Living people 1984 births Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Men's association football central defenders Association footballers from County Dublin University College Dublin A.F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players Shelbourne F.C. players Drogheda United F.C. players League of Ireland players St Patrick's Athletic F.C. players Shamrock Rovers F.C. players Bray Wanderers F.C. players League of Ireland XI players Republic of Ireland men's youth international footballers Republic of Ireland men's under-23 international footballers Cherry Orchard F.C. players Longford Town F.C. players