Former Bray Wanderers boss Harry Kenny has been appointed as manager of St Patrick's Athletic where he succeeds Liam Buckley, who left the club last month.
Kenny, who made more than 200 appearances as a player for Shamrock Rovers before stints with Drogheda United and in the Irish League, previously had a period at Richmond Park as assistant manager to Buckley in the title-winning season of 2013 and had been linked with the vacancy from the time it arose.
He did well at Wanderers where he put together a squad that looked capable of getting the club into Europe before problems behind the scenes and pressure from his employers, the FAI, contributed to his departure. He will be leaving his job as a co-ordinator of an Education and Training Board (ETB) player development course to take up the St Patrick’s post.
He has a reputation for getting the best out of players and for spotting young talent, of which there appears to be a fair bit at St Patrick’s. His task in Inchicore will be to get a side that is seen as having underperformed over the past couple of seasons back into firm contention for European football.
He will work with Ger O’Brien who, having stepped in to take charge of the first time in the wake of Buckley’s departure, will revert to his director of football role.
“I am absolutely honoured to be appointed manager,” says Kenny. “During my playing career in the League of Ireland, Pat’s were always a club I admired and I have a great fondness for the club.”
