Kerry Football Club ( Irish: ''Cumann Peile Chiarraí'') is an Irish association football club based in Tralee,

County Kerry County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the co ...

. They play their home matches at

Mounthawk Park The Kerry District League (known as the Denny Kerry District League for sponsorship reasons) is an association football league featuring amateur and junior clubs from County Kerry. The KDL is a winter league run by Adrian Casey. Its top division ...

. The club competes in the

League of Ireland First Division The League of Ireland First Division ( ga, Céad Roinn Sraith na hÉireann), also known as the SSE Airtricity League First Division, is the second level division in both the League of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland football league system. Th ...

, starting in the

2023 season 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

, with an inaugural fixture against Cobh Ramblers.

History

Participation from

in the League of Ireland began when a team representing the

Kerry District League The Kerry District League (known as the Denny Kerry District League for sponsorship reasons) is an association football league featuring amateur and junior clubs from County Kerry. The KDL is a winter league run by Adrian Casey. Its top divisio ...

(KDL) participated in the Eircom U21 League in 2002 and 2003, while Tralee Dynamos subsequently played in the third-tier A Championship between 2009 and 2011. Following the folding of the A Championship in 2011, Tralee Dynamos submitted an application for a licence to compete in the

for the 2012 season. However, their application was unsuccessful. The KDL resumed participation with the League of Ireland at underage level in the late 2010s, joining the Southern Elite Division of the Under-17 League in 2016 and subsequently that of the Under-19 League in 2019. It was announced on 22 June 2022 that an application had been made by Kerry Football Club, an entity comprising the KDL and a consortium led by

Brian Ainscough Brian Ainscough is a soccer coach, who last coached the men's soccer team at Northeastern University from 2005 to 2014. He compiled a 79-80-33 overall record, including a 27-16-12 mark in conference play. He transformed the Huskies soccer program ...

, Steven Conway and

Billy Dennehy William Michael Dennehy (born 17 February 1987) is an Irish former footballer and manager of Irish side Kerry FC. He was a left-sided midfielder but also played on the right wing. He is the older brother of Darren who is a former Irish football ...

, for a licence to compete in the League of Ireland for the 2023 season. The application was deemed successful on 16 November, when Kerry were awarded a licence for the First Division. The club will operate on a fully

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

basis for the 2023 season, and play their games at

. Dennehy was announced as the club's first manager on 19 December. Later that same day, Treaty United midfielder Matt Keane was announced as the club's first signing, followed by Seán McGrath from Cobh Ramblers. The club's first ever competitive senior fixture took place on 17 February 2023, a 2–0 home defeat against Cobh Ramblers at

. The following week, Leo Gaxha scored the club's first ever senior goal, in a 3–1 defeat 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 ...

at the Carlisle Grounds. Kerry secured their first point in the League of Ireland on 3 March, following a 1–1 draw with Treaty United at Mounthawk Park. Figures released upon the completion of the first series of First Division fixtures showed that Kerry had an average home attendance of 1,194, placing them fifth out of the ten clubs in the division, with all four home matches selling out. Kerry secured their first-ever win in the League of Ireland at the fourteenth attempt, with a 3–2 victory away to

Athlone Town Athlone Town Association Football Club () is an Irish football club from Athlone who are playing in the League of Ireland. The club is the oldest in the League as it was founded in 1887. First elected to the League of Ireland in 1922, they pl ...

on 12 May, before recording their first-ever clean sheet on 2 June, following a scoreless draw with

Finn Harps Finn Harps Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Chláirsigh na Finne) are an Irish football club that play in the First Division of the League of Ireland, as of 2023. The club was founded in 1954 and elected to the league in 1969. However, it was te ...

at Finn Park. On 17 November 2023, it was announced that

had stepped down as manager to return to his original position of Sporting Director, with Conor McCarthy taking over as manager. On 24 November 2023, Brian Ainscough departed the club to take over ownership of

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is h ...

, pulling his funding in Kerry after 1 year with the club.

First team squad

Technical Staff

Management

Women's Team

In June 2023, Kerry FC announced the establishment of a women's football club, via acceptance into the FAI U17 Women's League for the 2024 season.

References

External links

* {{authority control 2022 establishments in Ireland Amateur association football teams Association football clubs established in 2022 Association football clubs in County Kerry League of Ireland First Division clubs Organisations based in Tralee Sport in Tralee