Kieran McKenna (born 14 May 1986) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player, who is currently the manager of EFL Championship side Ipswich Town.
McKenna began his footballing career as a youth team player at Northern Irish sides Enniskillen Town United and Ballinamallard United. He joined Tottenham Hotspur as a youth player in 2002, after signing a scholarship contract with Spurs. McKenna also represented the Northern Ireland national team at under-19 and under-21 level.
In 2009, at the age of 22, McKenna retired from playing due to an ongoing hip injury which prevented McKenna from making a senior first-team appearance for Tottenham. Following retirement, McKenna began coaching within the Tottenham Hotspur academy, progressing to become the club's under-18s manager in 2015. In 2016, he departed Tottenham for the under-18s manager position at Manchester United.
Prior to the 2018–19 season, McKenna was promoted to the first-team coaching staff at Manchester United to become assistant manager under José Mourinho. He worked with the first-team coaching staff at Manchester United until December 2021, when he left to become manager of Ipswich Town. In his first full season at Ipswich Town, McKenna achieved promotion to the EFL Championship.
Playing career
McKenna was a youth footballer at Tottenham Hotspur, before ending his playing career in 2009 due to a hip injury. McKenna went through two years of rehabilitation and had two operations before confirming his decision to retire.
Prior to joining Tottenham, McKenna played for Enniskillen Town United and Ballinamallard United.
He also represented Northern Ireland at both under-19 and under-21 level, of which McKenna represented his country in the UEFA European Under-21 Championship Qualifiers.
Coaching career
Tottenham Hotspur
After retiring from playing, McKenna started his career in coaching whilst studying a degree in Sports Science at Loughborough University. During his time studying, McKenna spent time as a youth coach at Tottenham Hotspur, Leicester City and Nottingham Forest.
McKenna also spent two months with the Vancouver Whitecaps in Canada as a guest coach at the end of his first academic year. Upon graduating from Loughborough University, McKenna was hired as the Head of Academy Performance Analysis at Tottenham Hotspur.
McKenna has since revealed that he almost joined the academy coaching staff at Liverpool, of which he would have succeeded Alex Inglethorpe, who was promoted from Academy Coach to Academy Director, however McKenna decided to stay at Tottenham. Following a period of coaching a variety of age groups within the Tottenham Academy set-up, McKenna was placed in charge of Tottenham Hotspur's under-18s side.
During his tenure at Tottenham, McKenna guided the under-18s to the semi-final of the FA Youth Cup in 2015. He departed a year after his appointment as under-18s manager at Tottenham, having accepted the opportunity to serve the same role for Tottenham’s Premier League rivals Manchester United.
Manchester United
On 29 August 2016, it was confirmed that McKenna was to leave his role at Tottenham to join the academy set-up at Manchester United, becoming the club's under-18s manager. In his second season in charge of the under-18s, McKenna guided Manchester United to the Premier League Northern Division title.
On 1 July 2018, along with former United player Michael Carrick, McKenna was promoted to the first-team coaching staff and replaced Rui Faria as José Mourinho's assistant manager, ahead of the 2018–19 Premier League season.
Following a poor start to the 2018–19 season, Mourinho left United on 18 December 2018, and was replaced the next day by former United striker Ole Gunnar Solskjær, who was appointed as caretaker manager. Despite reports suggesting that the managerial change would result in the recruitment of a new coaching team, both McKenna and Carrick retained their positions under Solskjær. Following Solskjær's departure in November 2021, McKenna retained his position as first-team coach under new interim manager Ralf Rangnick.
Managerial career
Ipswich Town
On 16 December 2021, McKenna was appointed as manager of Ipswich Town, signing a three-and-a-half year contract. He officially took charge on 20 December, alongside his assistant Martyn Pert.
McKenna’s first game in charge of Ipswich saw his side win 1–0 against Wycombe Wanderers at Portman Road. McKenna's first away game in charge was a 4–0 win against Gillingham.