Kenny Brannigan (born 8 June 1965) is a Scottish former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player and manager.

Playing career

Kenny Brannigan was a journeyman professional with a career spanning 21 seasons. A centre back, he played for 14 senior clubs in his career, making over 100 appearances for each of Queen's Park,

Stranraer Stranraer ( , in Scotland also ; gd, An t-Sròn Reamhar ), also known as The Toon, is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is located in the historical parish of Inch in the historic county of Wigtownshire. It lies on the shores of L ...

(who he skippered to a second division championship in 1994) and

Clydebank Clydebank ( gd, Bruach Chluaidh) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, Bowling and Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Mil ...

. His other clubs included Sheffield Wednesday,

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

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 ...

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. ...

, Berwick Rangers, and Stirling Albion.

Coaching career

Brannigan was caretaker manager of

in 1997. He became Queen's Park manager in January 2003, taking over from John McCormack, when the latter left to manage Morton. Brannigan quit in August 2004 amidst reports over a touchline fight with a player and a supporter. With

Airdrie United Airdrieonians Football Club is a Scottish professional football team in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, who are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in Scottish League One. They were formed in 2002 as Airdrie United ...

he was also assistant manager, as he was with Stirling Albion.

Queen of the South

When Gordon Chisholm was promoted to the role as manager of Dumfries club Queen of the South in the 2007 close season, he appointed Brannigan as his assistant. This coincided with chairman Davie Rae announcing that the club would go full-time. Chisholm and Brannigan guided Queens to only their second ever Scottish Cup semi-final appearance with a 2–0 quarter final victory against

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

. ''Queens'' followed this with a 4–3 win against Aberdeen in the semi-final, which meant that they reached their first ever Scottish Cup Final appearance. Despite second half ''Queens'' goals by

Steve Tosh Steven William Tosh (born 27 April 1973) is a Scottish former professional association footballer. A midfielder of many Scottish clubs, Tosh's last club was Cove Rangers F.C., Cove Rangers. Playing career Tosh, who was born in Kirkcaldy, play ...

and Jim Thomson,

Rangers A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

ran out 3–2 winners in the final. The Scottish Cup runners-up spot led to a UEFA Cup 2nd qualification round place. Despite losing both legs against FC Nordsjælland, Branningan later described the away leg in Denmark as the highlight of his career. After two mid-table finishes in the Scottish Football League First Division, Chisholm left ''Queens'' to manage Dundee. Brannigan was promoted to the managerial position, as the club announced that he would "take over the managerial role at Palmerston until the end of the season". Brannigan was reported as saying that the promotion had come "as a bit of a surprise". Brannigan was offered the post of Queen of the South manager on 20 April 2010 through to May 2011 and he accepted the position. Chairman Davie Rae said "Kenny has had some excellent results since we asked him to take over the manager's role from Gordon Chisholm and we're delighted he has accepted on a more permanent basis". He managed Queen of the South to a long postponed

2010 Scottish Challenge Cup Final The 2011 Scottish Challenge Cup final was played between Queen of the South and Ross County at McDiarmid Park, Perth. Ross County won 2–0. The game had been postponed from November to April due to inclement weather. Queen of the South beat ...

where in a disappointing performance his side lost 2–0 against Ross County."Queen of the South 0 - 2 Ross County" www.qosfc.com 11 April 2011
Queen of the South informed Brannigan that his contract would not be renewed when his current deal expires on 31 May 2011. In his one full season in charge at Queens he took the club to 4th in Scotland's second tier as well as the Challenge Cup Final despite cost cuts placed upon him. On 21 May 2011, the club confirmed his departure, stating, "last season proved a difficult one for all concerned, and he was informed yesterday that his contract wouldn't be extended."Boss Kenny Brannigan to join Queen of the South exodus – BBC Sport
/ref>

Later career

Having been involved in managing property and licensed premises for a period, as of April 2020 he was based in the United States, working as a coach and talent-spotter, and also working as a scout for Hamilton Academical.Scottish journeyman Kenny Brannigan has gone from Bridgeton to Beijing
BBC Sport, 30 March 2020

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brannigan, Kenny 1965 births Living people Footballers from Glasgow Men's association football central defenders Scottish men's footballers Queen's Park F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Kilmarnock F.C. players Falkirk F.C. players East Stirlingshire F.C. players Stranraer F.C. players Stenhousemuir F.C. players Clydebank F.C. (1965) players Partick Thistle F.C. players Berwick Rangers F.C. players Stirling Albion F.C. players Airdrieonians F.C. players Scottish Football League players English Football League players Scottish football managers Clydebank F.C. (1965) managers Queen's Park F.C. managers Queen of the South F.C. managers Scottish Football League managers Hamilton Academical F.C. non-playing staff People from Bridgeton, Glasgow