Kenneth Irons (born 4 November 1970) is an English former 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 made more than 500 appearances in
the Football League playing for
Tranmere Rovers and
Huddersfield Town.
He was signed up as a trainee at Tranmere Rovers in 1989, where he made nearly 400 appearances for them in 10 years, before moving to
Steve Bruce
Stephen Roger Bruce (born 31 December 1960) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played as a centre-back. He most recently managed West Bromwich Albion F.C., West Br ...
's
Huddersfield Town side for £500,000 in 1999.
He brought steel to the Terriers' side and is most remembered by Town fans for his 35-yard thunderbolt goal that defeated
Gianluca Vialli's Chelsea side 1–0 in the 3rd round of the
League Cup at
Stamford Bridge Stamford Bridge may refer to:
* Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, a village in England
** Battle of Stamford Bridge, 25 September 1066
* Stamford Bridge (bridge), a bridge in the village of Stamford Bridge
* Stamford Bridge (stadium), in L ...
.
In 2003, he left Town to join
Irish Football League side
Linfield, where he helped them gain the title during that season. The following season, he had a short spell at
League of Wales
The Cymru Premier, known as the JD Cymru Premier for sponsorship reasons, is the national football league of Wales. It has both professional and semi-professional status clubs and is at the top of the Welsh football league system. Prior to 200 ...
side
NEWI Cefn Druids, before moving to
Caernarfon Town where he stayed until the arrival of
Steve O'Shaughnessy as manager in September 2006.
He played football in Queensland, Australia. Irons stint for the Mareeba Bulls was mildly successful, finishing second the FNQ league.
He now coaches at Tranmere Rovers' centre of excellence.
In 2008, Kenny signed for Liverpool Veterans Side Sacre Coeur, who compete in the I Zingari Combination League. However, following the 4–1 defeat on 9 April at the hands of Bootle side Jawbone FC, Irons finally retired.
At the age of 46, Irons helped England win the 2016 Seniors World Cup, for retired professionals, in Thailand.
References
1970 births
Living people
Footballers from Liverpool
English men's footballers
Men's association football midfielders
Tranmere Rovers F.C. players
Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players
Linfield F.C. players
Cefn Druids A.F.C. players
Caernarfon Town F.C. players
Cammell Laird 1907 F.C. players
English Football League players
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