Kenny grew up in Tallaght and lived there for the first 18 years of his life.[3] He attended Our Lady of Loreto Boys National School and Old Bawn Community School.[4] Kenny ran a successful meat-production business in the late 1990s before moving into football management full-time.[5]
Playing career
During his playing career, Kenny spent two years at Belvedere as a schoolboy before signing for St Patrick's Athletic. Without making an appearance he then transferred to Home Farm, playing just four games in the League of Ireland First Division, making his League of Ireland debut on 13 March 1994. Following time at Home Farm, Kenny had an offer to sign for Kilkenny City, before choosing to sign for hometown club Tallaght Town as player-manager. Starting in Senior 1B of the Leinster Senior League, Kenny guided the club to three successive promotions, before Shamrock Rovers merged with Tallaght Town.[6][7]
Coaching career
Early career
Following his time at Tallaght Town, Kenny moved to St Patrick's Athletic when he took charge of the Dublin side's under-21 squad in the Athletic Union League, guiding the team to a league win.
Longford Town
In the summer of 1998, Kenny became the youngest manager in National League history when he took over Longford Town at the age of 26. He led Longford to huge success during his three-year tenure as they won promotion to the League of Ireland Premier Division for the first time and subsequently reached the 2001 FAI Cup Final, qualifying for the 2001–02 UEFA Cup.
Bohemians
In December 2001, Kenny left the midlands club and became manager of Bohemians, taking over at Dalymount Park. Bohemians were then the champions of the Eircom League, having won the Double the previous season. However, the club was in something of a crisis, with former manager Roddy Collins' successor Pete Mahon struggling after a strong start to the season. Kenny's impact at Bohemians was immediate, as the side steadily moved away from the lower end of the league table. Kenny’s squad reached that year's FAI Cup final, which saw Dundalk FC seal a close 2–1 victory over Bohemians.
In the 2002–2003 season, Kenny made some changes within the first-team squad and led Bohemians to a Premier Division title win, granting the side qualification for the 2003–04 UEFA Champions League first qualifying round. Although Bohemians did not progress to the second qualifying round, Kenny’s revitalised squad celebrated a 3–0 win over FC BATE Borisov, the record-holders for the most Belarusian Premier League titles won.
The following season, Bohemians placed second to winners Shelbourne FC in the league, securing the club’s place in the 2003–04 UEFA Cup first qualifying round. Kenny left Bohemians on 27 July 2004 with a league record of 49 wins in 96 games.
After just three weeks out of the game, Kenny returned to management at Derry City following the departure of Gavin Dykes, taking over from caretaker manager Peter Hutton. His time at the club was hugely successful and he has been credited for turning a team battling against relegation in the 2004 season into one which challenged for the Premier Division title in 2005, finishing runners-up.
Kenny also guided Derry City to their first advancement in European competition in over 40 years, the last seeing Norwegian side Lyn Oslo being knocked out. Derry qualified for the 2006–07 UEFA Cup by finishing runners-up in the Premier Division in the 2005 season. On 13 July 2006, Derry overcame two-time winners IFK Göteborg in the UEFA Cup first qualifying round 2–0 on aggregate. A 79th-minute header from Sean Hargan was enough to give Derry a shock win in the first leg, and Stephen O'Flynn ensured a 1–0 home victory from the penalty spot. Kenny was delighted with the win, stating:
They have won the UEFA Cup twice and only a few years ago were in the group stages of the Champions League, so this is a great night for everyone connected with Derry City. We were worthy winners. It is not as if we got a goal and held on. I think we played the better football.[8]
This marked Derry City's first progression in European football since defeating Lyn Oslo more than 40 years ago.[when?]
Derry City were subsequently drawn against Scottish second-level side Gretna in the second qualifying round. On 10 August 2006, Derry claimed a 5–1 away win to gain a considerable advantage going into the home leg. This result is the largest away winning margin for a League of Ireland team in Europe.[9] Following a 2–2 home draw with Gretna in the second leg and a 7–3 win on aggregate, Derry advanced to the UEFA Cup First Round. In the draw, held on 25 August 2006, Derry City were handed a tough tie against Paris Saint-Germain FC. The first leg was played at home at Brandywell Stadium on the evening of 14 September 2006 and ended in a 0–0 draw. The second leg was played at Parc des Princes on 28 September. PSG won the second leg 2–0 with goals from Pauleta and Edouard Cisse.
Kenny remained in charge of Derry City until 17 November 2006 for their final league game before moving to Dunfermline Athletic. Derry finished second in the league behind Shelbourne, who had a stronger goal difference. Kenny then made a return to Derry City to manage the club for the FAI Cup final win against St. Patrick's Athletic.[10]
Kenny's total managerial record at Derry included 112 games managed, 65 games won, 29 games drawn, 18 games lost, 170 goals for, 80 goals against, and 57 clean sheets. His win percentage was 58%. During his time in charge, a total of 32 players represented the club, and 7 players that he managed went on to represent their country at international level.[11]
Dunfermline Athletic
Kenny was confirmed as the new Dunfermline Athletic manager on 10 November 2006[12] and took up his position on 18 November 2006 where he was to watch Dunfermline's game against Dundee United from the stand.[13]
Following his departure from the League of Ireland, his contributions during the 2006 season were still recognised by eircom / Soccer Writers Association of Ireland (SWAI) who nominated the former Derry City manager for their 'Personality of the Year' award on 13 December 2006.
After the club was relegated to the League of Ireland First Division in 2009 for entering administration, Kenny stayed on as Derry City manager, winning the 2010 First Division title and guiding the side back to the Premier Division. In 2011, Derry City’s return to the Premier Division saw them claim a third-place finish in the league table and a League Cup win with a 1–0 victory over Cork City. Kenny left the club on 24 December 2011 to join Shamrock Rovers.
In November 2012, Dundalk confirmed Kenny as its new first-team manager. The side mounted an unexpected title challenge in Kenny’s first season and would finish runners-up, with a defeat to eventual champions St. Patrick's Athletic ultimately costing them the title. But Kenny kept the nucleus of the new side together for the following season and in 2014, led the club to its first league title since 1994–95, landing a place in the 2013–14 UEFA Champions League second qualifying round. Dundalk also won 2014's League of Ireland Cup, the club's first League and League Cup Double.
The 2015 season saw Dundalk dominate: Kenny’s squad clinched another League and FAI Cup Double, winning the title by 11 points and securing the Cup with a victory over Cork City in the 2015 FAI Cup final.[18] They also won the Leinster Senior Cup, the club's first 'treble' since 1966–67. A third league title in a row was sealed with two games to spare in 2016.[19]
2016 also saw the club qualify for the Champions League play-off round after they defeated FH of Iceland,[20] then came from a goal down in the tie to defeat BATE Borisov 3–1 on aggregate.[21] Dundalk drew Legia Warsaw for the play-off, with the first leg played in the Aviva Stadium in Dublin in front of a crowd of 30,417.[22] They suffered a 2–0 defeat in the home leg, but shocked Legia in the return leg by taking a 1–0 lead. With Dundalk pushing for the equaliser that would have taken the tie to extra-time, Legia scored on the break and won the tie 3–1 on aggregate.[23] As a result, Dundalk qualified for the group stage of the Europa League, making them only the second Irish team to have done so. A draw with AZ Alkmaar in the Netherlands,[24] followed by a victory over Maccabi Tel Aviv in Tallaght Stadium, were the first points earned by an Irish club in the group stage of European competition.[25]
In 2017, after the European run, Dundalk won the League Cup again and finished second place in the league. The club secured a place in that year’s FAI Cup Final, but following a 1–1 draw that took the game to penalties, opponents Cork City ultimately took the Cup. The club's European form had attracted interest from abroad and a consortium of American investors, backed by sports-investors PEAK6, completed a takeover in January 2018. That year, Kenny's side won another League and Cup Double, the second under Kenny and fourth in the club's history, breaking points-total and goals scored-total records.
In 2017, after the European run, Dundalk won the League Cup again[26] and finished second place in the league. The club secured a place in that year’s FAI Cup Final, but following a 1–1 draw that took the game to penalties, opponents Cork City ultimately took the Cup. The club's European form had attracted interest from abroad and a consortium of American investors, backed by sports-investors PEAK6, completed a takeover in January 2018.[27]
In 2018, Kenny's side won another League and Cup Double, the second under Kenny and fourth in the club's history, breaking points-total and goals scored-total records in the process.[28][29]
Kenny’s U21s enjoyed a record-breaking 2019, ending the year at the top of their 2021 UEFA European Championships qualifying group. The same year, Ireland achieved its highest-ever finish in the prestigious Toulon Tournament (fourth position).[31] Kenny’s team secured victories over China[32] and Bahrain[33] and a draw against Mexico in the group stage,[34] with a highly competitive semi-final ending in a 2–0 win for Brazil.[35]
On 1 September 2021, Ireland led Portugal 1–0 in their third 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier in Estádio Algarve with two minutes to play in normal time. The side ended up losing 2–1, with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring two late goals.[40] Next, Ireland were only able to draw 1-1 at home with Azerbaijan; a late equaliser from Shane Duffy salvaged a point for the Irish against the team ranked 117th in the world.[41]
On 9 October 2021, Ireland won 3–0 away to the same country in the reverse fixture[42] and three days later on 12 October, Kenny’s squad defeated Qatar 4–0 in a friendly.[43] On 14 November 2021, Ireland completed their qualification campaign for the 2022 FIFA World Cup with a 3–0 win away against Luxembourg, but still came third, eight points below Portugal.[44]
On 9 March 2022, Kenny signed a new contract with Ireland to remain in charge until after UEFA Euro 2024.[45] In June 2022, Ireland played four 2022–23 UEFA Nations League fixtures. The campaign started with a 1–0 loss away to Armenia, ranked 92nd in the world,[46] followed by a 1–0 loss at home to Ukraine,[47] before defeating Scotland 3-0.[48] The win over Scotland was Ireland’s first competitive home win in three years and their first competitive win at home to a side ranked above them since the win against Bosnia in the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying play-offs[49] in November 2015. The last of the four games was a 1–1 draw against Ukraine in Łódź.[50]
Ireland finished their participation in 2022–23 UEFA Nations League on 27 September 2023 at home to Armenia, with Robbie Brady's penalty in additional time securing a 3-2 win.[51]
On 27 March 2023, Ireland opened their UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying campaign with a 1–0 loss at home to France.[52] In June 2023, they lost 2–1 away to Greece[53] before winning 3–0 at home to Gibraltar.[54] On 7 September 2023, the game with France at the Parc des Princes ended in a 2–0 loss for Ireland[55] and a 2–1 defeat to the Netherlands followed three days later.[56] Any hopes of qualifying were extinguished on 13 October 2023 with a home 2-0 loss to Greece, still with two games to play.[57] Ireland finished campaign in the fourth place, seven points below Greece with their only points won against Gibraltar.
Kenny’s contract with the Football Association of Ireland was not renewed after his final game on 22 November 2023 a day after a 1-1 draw with New Zealand.[58] Kenny faced criticism from some media commentators during his reign,[59] but he also had support from experienced commentators such as John Giles.[60] The attendances at games remained high and he had strong support from his players throughout his time as manager.[61][62][63] Kenny reflected upon the criticism some months after his departure and said: "We didn't achieve everything we wanted to achieve of course but the public believed it cos they filled the stadiums, there was a sense of optimism that was different. I know we were far from perfect, but we consistently had full houses and fully believed in what we were doing, the players believed in myself as a coach and what we were doing was the right way."[64]
Kenny is married and has four children.[76]
His son Eoin Kenny is a professional footballer, having signed his first professional contract on 5 March 2023, with his father's former club Dundalk.[77][78]
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