Paul Fennessy

SOCCER FANS in Kerry finally have a League of Ireland team to support and the early signs are positive.

The enthusiasm in an area of the country more commonly associated with other sports, most notably Gaelic football, has been palpable.

Kerry FC announced on Twitter earlier this week that tickets for their opening game of the season against Cobh Ramblers at Mounthawk Park had sold out.

Of course, the novelty of the project is part of the attraction, and maintaining the early surge in interest will likely be primarily dependent on results and performances on the field.

The move has been a long time in the making and is over 20 years on from when the county first played on the national stage at the U21 level in a fixture with Waterford United.

Former League of Ireland star Billy Dennehy, described in press releases as their Sporting Director, will lead the team in the dugout this season, with Brian Ainsclough (CEO), Steven Conway  (COO), and Sean O Keeffe (General Manager) also all fundamental to the project.

“League of Ireland football has been a long time coming for Kerry, to be honest, and it’s great now that it’s finally here,” says Dennehy, speaking at the recent League of Ireland launch.

“When you’re going in as a new club, you’re not building off a base from the year before. The recruitment is a blank slate really, in terms of players that you’re bringing in.

“We were fortunate at the start that guys like Matt Keane, who has experience in the league from the last couple of years, was one of the first  to come in and that was a great start with many other players coming [thereafter] as well.”

With a maximum of two from the 10 teams contesting the First Division promoted, not much will be expected of Kerry initially and when asked about hopes for the season, Dennehy responds: “I’m not really somebody who puts expectations or goals on a long-term view, it’s mostly [focusing on a] day to day, week to week basis.” 

In terms of the broader aims, the coach explains: “We’re trying to build a sustainable club from a good solid foundation first.

“That obviously means recruiting good local players and people involved in the club. And, we’re hoping to develop within the club as well and provide the platform for our local lads to go on and play at a higher level than here too.”

Kerry have been bolstered by fielding teams in the national underage leagues for the past number of years and so they were able to recruit from within to a degree.

Now, at last, these young players have been provided with a direct pathway to senior football — a luxury that was not afforded to Dennehy himself and other talented Kerry-born footballers of previous generations.

“They’d go up to U19s and then they had nowhere else to go,” says 26-year-old former Treaty United midfielder Keane, who was announced as Kerry’s first-ever signing in November and confirmed as their new club captain yesterday.

“They go back then playing junior soccer. You’re dropping down the levels and it’s not a professional environment. For fellas who want to push themselves and be the best they can be in whatever profession, they need a pathway to go all the way to senior level.

“Even a couple of my friends I would have played soccer with all the way up because we didn’t have the setup to go to senior level, they would have dropped off and gone back playing GAA.

“I suppose the GAA in Kerry is such a big attraction but you can see it straight away with the excitement and the buzz around that soccer now is going to be a major attraction.”

While the establishment of Kerry FC ostensibly increases competition between the two sports, Dennehy plays down any sense of tension in this regard: “I think with the GAA, we’re all proud to be from Kerry and representing it and we support Kerry teams no matter what sport it’s in. We’re very proud to support the Kerry GAA teams when they’re playing.”

Ensuring footballers are provided with opportunities off the field as well is also pivotal to Kerry FC’s ethos.

The club have links to Munster Technological University (MTU), with scholarships to a US programme in Boston among the potential options for talented athletes.

“We have a relationship with the university in Kerry now,” adds Dennehy. “We have many lads on full scholarships in university and obviously with the partnership across the water in the US, it’s going to be a chance for players to go over there as well to do scholarships and vice versa.

“It’s going to be important because, to be honest, that’s where the League of Ireland is — it’s not a full-time professional academy, we’re all amateur based, so we need to provide [alternative] avenues for players as well as football.”

For Keane, meanwhile, not having to always make the trek to another county was definitely part of the attraction.

“I’ve lived in Kerry all my life so it was always going to be a hard offer to turn down,” he says.

“These boys at 14s, 15s, 17s, and 19s are so lucky that they are able to play at this high standard in a professional environment, Billy probably had to goto Cork or Dublin, I had to travel up to Limerick. The last couple of years I was traveling up and down to Treaty, when I was underage, I would have gone to Limerick FC to play at a good level, the fact that now have this avenue for young players and the pathway to go from U14s all the way up to senior First Division, playing League of Ireland standard is absolutely massive and it’s only going to grow soccer in the region.”

Looking ahead to Friday’s much-anticipated curtain raiser with Cobh, he adds: “Every time you go out, you meet someone on the street and they’re asking questions: ‘How’s the training going? What’s the team like? Have you got your squad signed up?’ Even where I work — I’m teaching as well — with all the students there’s massive excitement.

“When Kerry got the license, it seemed like the first game was a long way away, but it’s come around rapidly. Everyone in Kerry is talking about it and we can’t wait to start the season now.”