Liam Kearney ( ga, Liam Ó Cearnaigh; born 10 January 1983, Republic of Ireland), nicknamed "The Conna Maradona", is an Irish 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 ...

associated primarily with

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' ...

in 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 ...

. As of 2021, Kearney was "Head of Academy" at Cork City FC. Kearney played mainly on the left wing and represented the Republic of Ireland U21 team on seven occasions, scoring once.

Career

Nottingham Forest

Kearney joined

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

from Fermoy United after previously playing for Valley Rangers. He was the star of the Cork Schoolboys League Kennedy Cup team in 1998 and as a result signed with

in 1999. Whilst with Forest, Kearney won the U19 FA Premier League. Kearney appeared many times for several of the underage Irish national teams, from U16 to U20. He played in the U16 European championships in Israel and finished 3rd in Norway in the U19 European Championships. He also attracted interest from

Cheltenham Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...

manager

Bobby Gould Robert Hewitt Gould (born 12 June 1946) is an English former footballer and manager. Early life Gould was born in Wyken, Coventry, Warwickshire on 12 June 1946. He is the son of Henry Gould and Helen McKellar Gould (née Morton). He spent hi ...

Cork City

Kearney returned to Ireland in 2003, joining

. In 2004, he made his Republic of Ireland U21 debut against Italian opposition. Kearney won seven U21 caps whilst with Cork scoring once in a 1–0 victory over Italy. 2005 saw Cork City and Kearney embark on a campaign that would ultimately see them win the league title on the final day, beating Derry City 2–0 in which Kearney scored the second goal. The club also progressed into the First Round of the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

, having started as an unseeded side in the first qualifying round, eliminating

FK Ekranas Panevėžio Ekranas is a Lithuanian football club, from the city of Panevėžys. It won 7 top-tier champion and 5 national cup titles throughout its existence. The club was founded in 1964 and for 44 years competed in the top tier of Lithuanian ...

from Lithuania and the eventual Swedish champions

Djurgårdens IF Djurgårdens Idrottsförening, commonly known simply as Djurgårdens IF, Djurgården (), and (especially locally) Djurgår'n (), Dif or DIF – is a Swedish sports association with several sections, located in Stockholm. Name The club is named ...

, before being knocked out by

Slavia Prague Sportovní klub Slavia Praha – fotbal (Sports Club Slavia Prague – Football, ), commonly known as Slavia Praha or Slavia Prague, is a Czech professional football club in Prague. Founded in 1892, they are the second most successful club in th ...

. Kearney left Cork City for Shelbourne in 2006 following an offer from Dutch Premier Division side Heerenveen was denied to the disappointment of the player.

Shelbourne

Kearney joined Shelbourne from the then league champions, Cork City, on a free transfer in January 2006. He was limited to few first team opportunities, making just 10 league appearances throughout the season, scoring once. Shelbourne manager

Pat Fenlon Patrick Fenlon (born 15 March 1969) is an Irish football coach and former player. Fenlon played as a midfielder for St Patrick's Athletic, Bohemians, Linfield, Shamrock Rovers and Shelbourne. As a manager he won five League of Ireland titles ...

agreed to a temporary freezing of Liam's contract whilst he took a few weeks away from football during the 2006 season to regain his hunger and focus. Kearney returned in time to take a left wing berth in a friendly against English Championship side Sunderland. Kearney failed to break into the first team upon his return, but was rewarded with his second league winners medal in two years, as Shelbourne clinched the title on the last day. He has described his time in Dublin as "disappointing".

Return to Cork City

Kearney departed Shelbourne on 22 January 2007 to rejoin

, signing a two-year contract. Later that year he criticised the club for not settling players' contracts. In August 2008 he said that, despite Cork City's poor financial position and difficulties in re-signing and paying its players, he would prefer to stay with the club. He scored the winning goal in Cork City's

Setanta Sports Cup The Setanta Sports Cup was a club football competition featuring teams from both football associations on the island of Ireland. Inaugurated in 2005, it was a cross-border competition between clubs in the League of Ireland from the Republic of I ...

final win over

Glentoran Glentoran Football Club is a professional football club that plays in the NIFL Premiership. The club was founded in 1882. History Early history In 1914, Glentoran won the Vienna Cup, becoming the first United Kingdom team to win a European t ...

but because of City's failure to offer him a new contract due to financial turmoil, Kearney left for Derry City after being approached by Stephen Kenny.

Derry City

Derry City Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

signed Kearney on the first day of the 2009 January transfer window. He started off well to his career at the

Brandywell The Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium ( ga, Tobar an Fhíoruisce ) is a municipal football stadium with an adjoining greyhound racing track in Derry, Northern Ireland. It is the home ground of League of Ireland team Derry City F.C. and (temporaril ...

, however he sustained a broken leg during a match in May against Galway United and was out for three months. By the end of July it was still unclear as to when he would return. He also missed Derry's

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

games, which saw them knock out

Skonto Riga Skonto FC was a Latvian football club, active from 1991 until 2016. The club played at the Skonto Stadium in Riga. Skonto won the Virsliga in the first 14 seasons of the league's resumption (15 in total), and often provided the core of the Lat ...

and run

CSKA Sofia CSKA Sofia ( bg, ЦСКА София) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia and currently competing in the country's premier football competition, the First League. ''CSKA'' is an abbreviation for ''Central Sport ...

close. He expressed his disappointment at not being able to participate in Europe however he said once he regained fitness he was looking forward to helping the Candystripes challenge for the League of Ireland title.

Waterford United

Kearney signed for

Waterford United Waterford Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Phort Láirge) formerly Waterford United Football Club is an Irish association football club based in Waterford who play in the League of Ireland First Division. The club was founded and elected to the ...

in what was a significant coup for the club. He became a fans' favourite within his first 5 games scoring the winner against his old club Derry City in his second game. Kearney was a big influence in Waterford United's push for the promotion towards the end of the season. He scored 5 league goals and played 30 league games before leaving the club.

Dandenong Thunder SC

Kearney signed for Australian Victorian Premier League side

Dandenong Thunder SC Dandenong Thunder SC is a soccer club from Dandenong, a suburb in the South-East region of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. They are an Albanian Australian-backed club. Thunder compete in the National Premier Leagues Victoria. In 2012, Dandenon ...

in January 2011.

Return to Cork City 2014

Kearney returned to Cork City FC at the start of the 2014 season from Avondale United, having been denied in joining halfway through the 2013 season due to amateur player regulations. He left the club after the 2015 season in which Cork City were runners up to Dundalk in both the Airtricity League Premier Division and FAI Cup.

International career

Kearney represented the Republic of Ireland Under-16 team at the

2000 UEFA European Under-16 Football Championship The 2000 UEFA European Under-16 Championship was the 18th edition of UEFA's European Under-16 Football Championship. Israel hosted the championship, during 1–14 May 2000. 16 teams entered the competition, and Portugal defeated the Czech Republi ...

and the Under-19 team at the

2002 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship The 2002 UEFA European Under-19 Championship was the first edition of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship, after the previous Under-18 competition was reclassified. The tournament was held in Norway, between 21 July and 28 July 2002. The top t ...

Coaching career

In his last year as a player, Kearney completed his

UEFA B Licence UEFA, the governing body for football in Europe, mandates several coaching licences for professional managers, each valid for coaching at a certain level. These include the UEFA Pro Licence, the UEFA A Licence, and the UEFA B Licence. They are is ...

and then moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

after his retirement at the end of 2015, where he spent a year coaching full-time at Premier UK Soccer in

Raleigh-Durham The Research Triangle, or simply The Triangle, are both common nicknames for a metropolitan area in the Piedmont region of North Carolina in the United States, anchored by the cities of Raleigh and Durham and the town of Chapel Hill, home to th ...

, North Carolina Area. In January 2017, he returned to Ireland and joined his last club,

, as a first team coach. Kearney later also assumed the role of head coach of the club’s Under 17 side. On 17 December 2019 the club confirmed, that Kearney had decided to leave the club.Liam Kearney departs
corkcityfc.ie, 17 December 2019 In March 2020, Kearney was hired as a sports and events coordinator for the Fota Island Resort hotel near

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

.Fota Island Resort is thrilled to introduce Liam Kearney, our ...
facebook.com, 6 March 2020 In January 2021, Kearney took a role as "Head of Academy" with Cork City FC, having previously held coaching roles at Galway United.

Honours

;Cork City *

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

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 ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

;Shelbourne *

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

References

External links

Player history
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kearney, Liam 1983 births Living people Republic of Ireland association footballers Republic of Ireland under-21 international footballers Republic of Ireland youth international footballers League of Ireland players Cork City F.C. players Shelbourne F.C. players Derry City F.C. players Waterford F.C. players Dandenong Thunder SC players Association football midfielders Cork City F.C. non-playing staff