Alan Kernaghan

Alan Kernaghan

Personal information
Full name	Alan Kernaghan
Date of birth	25 April 1967 (1967-04-25)
Place of birth	Otley, England
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Playing position	Defender
Club information
Current club	Brentford (coach)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1985–1993	Middlesbrough	202	(16)
1991	→ Charlton (loan)	13	(0)
1993–1997	Manchester City	63	(1)
1994	→ Bolton Wanderers (loan)	11	(0)
1996	→ Bradford City (loan)	5	(0)
1997	→ St. Johnstone (loan)	12	(1)
1997–2001	St. Johnstone	60	(5)
2001	Brechin City	3	(0)
2001–2004	Clyde	63	(3)
2004	Livingston	4	(0)
2005–2006	Falkirk	9	(0)
2006	Dundee	0	(0)
National team
	Northern Ireland Schoolboys
1993–1996	Republic of Ireland	26	(1)
Teams managed
2002–2004	Clyde
2005–2006	Dundee
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Alan Kernaghan (born 25 April 1967) is an Irish former footballer. Since retiring he has become a coach and manager, and currently works for Brentford.

Born in Otley, West Yorkshire, England, at the age of four, he moved with his family to Bangor, Co. Down. Kernaghan represented Northern Ireland at schoolboy level and the Republic of Ireland at senior level.

Career

Kernaghan began his playing career as an apprentice at Middlesbrough, and went on to make 212 appearances during an eight-year period, scoring 16 goals.

In September 1993, Kernaghan was signed for Manchester City by then-boss Brian Horton. He went on loan to various clubs—Bolton Wanderers in 1994, Bradford City in 1996, and then to St. Johnstone in 1997. The Saints signed him on a permanent deal just before the end of the year, after he was given a free transfer from Manchester City. He enjoyed four years at McDiarmid Park, making 60 league appearances and scoring five goals.

Kernaghan then joined Brechin City, but he made only three competitive appearances for the club. He then moved to Clyde, where he started as a player but was promoted to a player/manager role in the 2003–04 season. He guided Clyde to a second-placed finish in the First Division, behind Inverness Caley Thistle, a division which they led for the majority of the season. Kernaghan made 63 appearances for Clyde as a player, scoring three goals.

His next move was to Livingston as assistant manager to Allan Preston. Kernaghan was on a player/assistant manager role at the club, making four first team appearances for Livingston, but he was sacked along with Preston after a poor run of results.

Kernaghan next moved to Falkirk, where he took up a player/coach role. He made nine appearances for the Bairns but left the club on 2 September 2005, to take up the role as manager of Dundee. He was removed from the position, after an unsuccessful spell, in April 2006.

Kernaghan became the first former Republic of Ireland player to hold a coaching role at Rangers. He left this position in February 2012 to join Brentford.

International career

Brought up in Bangor, Northern Ireland, he played for Northern Ireland Schoolboys six times. However the Irish Football Association policy at the time did not select players who were not or whose parents were not born in Northern Ireland he wasn't selected for the senior team. Due to his grandmother being an Irish citizen he was entitled to Irish citizenship, and he was selected by Jack Charlton to play for the Republic of Ireland. Kernaghan earned 26 caps, scored one goal and was selected for the 1994 FIFA World Cup.

External links

• Alan Kernaghan career stats at Soccerbase
• Interview regarding nationality