Conor Kenna

Conor Kenna

Personal information
Full name	Conor Kenna
Date of birth	(1984-11-21) 21 November 1984
Place of birth	Dublin, Ireland
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position	Centre back
Club information
Current club	St Patrick's Athletic
Number	4
Youth career
	Cherry Orchard
	Coventry City
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2003	Shelbourne	0	(0)
2004–2008	UCD	149	(1)
2009	Drogheda United	33	(4)
2010-	St Patrick's Athletic	82	(3)
National team
	Republic of Ireland U21	?	(0)
	Republic of Ireland U23	3	(0)
2010	League of Ireland XI	1	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Conor Kenna, born in Dublin on 21 August 1984, is a footballer for League of Ireland side St. Patrick's Athletic.

Shelbourne & UCD

Kenna began his League of Ireland career with Shelbourne where he was a primary figure in the Reds' under 21 squad and was briefly part of their first team squad. He left Shels prior to the start of 2004 season to join First Division UCD for whom he helped to promotion to the Premier Division with a 2nd place finish. His primary role is at centre back although he deputised on many occasions at left back for UCD in spite of being right footed. Kenna formed a highly successful partnership at centre back with Alan McNally in a defence that gave up the fourth fewest goals in the 2006 eL Premier Division. Kenna was called into an Irish U-21 squad in 2005 but had to withdraw through injury. He was appointed UCD captain in the 2008 pre-season to replace the retired Tony McDonnell. He scored his first competitive goal for UCD in a 3-2 defeat to Derry City on the 7th of March 2008. Has earned 3 U23 caps for Republic of Ireland national football team.

Drogheda United

Following UCD's relegation to the First Division at the end of the 2008 season, Kenna signed for Drogheda United in February 2009. Kenna made 38 competitive appearances and scored 5 goals for Drogheda in 2009 as the Louth club retained their Premier Division status.

St.Patrick's Athletic

Kenna signed for St. Patrick's Athletic on 9 February 2010, linking up at the Inchicore club with his former UCD manager Pete Mahon, who selected him as club captain. Kenna became a fan's favourite at Inchicore and received the St. Patrick's Athletic Supporters Club Player of the Year award in 2010. Kenna also earned the nickname 'Kennavaro' after brilliant performances similar to famous Workd Cup winning central defender Fabio Cannavaro. He played every minute of every game in all competitions for the Saints in 2010 and didn't get a single yellow or red card all season. Kenna was widely expected to join 2010 league winners and Dublin rivals Shamrock Rovers but he stayed loyal to his club and this made him even more of a popular figure with the fans. 2011 looked to be a promising season for the Saints but his footballing career came into doubt when he sustained an injury to a tendon in his knee in the second league game of the season against Bray Wanderers at Richmond Park on the 11th March. He returned from his long injury setback in a 0-0 draw away to Sligo Rovers on the 27th July, Kenna wasn't expected to return so early as he was still building up his fitness but Mahon was forced to play him due to players being tired from a tough game against FC Shakhter Karagandy and he lasted the first 68 minutes before being replaced by Brian Shortall. Kenna went on to regain his place in the starting line up, pushing Shortall to the bench. Kenna scored in a 1-0 win over Sligo at Richmond Park in a huge match in the 2011 title run-in After Kenna returned from injury his performances were just a shadow of his 2010 performances which many fans put down to finding his feet again after the long period without playing games. Indeed they were correct as Kenna regained his excellent form in defence and the Saints found themselves with 3 clean sheets and just 2 goals conceded after the first 5 games of the 2012 season. Kenna played a big part in Pats' 2012 Europa League campaign, playing every game and setting up Stephen O'Flynn's goal against Íþróttabandalag Vestmannaeyja in extra-time at the Hásteinsvöllur, Iceland and also setting up Christy Fagan's winning goal in extra-time against NK Široki Brijeg from Bosnia and Herzegovina at Richmond Park to earn a tie against Hannover 96, whom he played against in the 49,000 seater AWD-Arena.

His cousin is Simon Madden (Irish footballer).

Honours

St Patrick's Athletic

• Leinster Senior Cup (1): 2011

Career statistics

Professional appearances - correct as of 15 March 2013

Club	Season	Airtricity League		Relegation Play-Offs		FAI Cup		EA Sports Cup		Europa League		Leinster Senior Cup		Setanta Cup		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
UCD	2004	30	0	—		4	0	3	0	—		—		—		37	0
	2005	27	0	—		2	0	2	0	—		—		—		31	0
	2006	27	0	—		3	0	0	0	—		—		—		30	0
	2007	33	0	—		4	0	3	0	—		—		—		40	0
	2008	32	1	—		2	0	0	0	—		—		—		34	1
Total		149	1	—		15	0	8	0	—		—		—		172	1
Drogheda United	2009	33	4	1	0	2	1	2	0	—		—		—		38	5
Total		33	4	1	0	2	1	2	0	—		—		—		38	5
St Patrick's Athletic	2010	36	2	—		5	0	2	0	—		1	0	5	0	49	2
	2011	15	1	—		4	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	1	0	21	1
	2012	29	0	—		5	0	2	0	6	0	0	0	2	0	43	0
	2013	2	0	—		0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	0	5	0
Total		82	3	—		14	0	4	0	7	0	2	0	10	0	119	3
Career total		264	7	1	0	32	1	14	0	7	0	3	0	10	0	349	9