- Liam Kearney
Football player infobox
playername = Liam Kearney
fullname = Liam Kearney
nickname = The Conna Maradona
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1983|1|10
cityofbirth =Conna
countryofbirth =Ireland
currentclub = Cork City
clubnumber = 24
position =Midfielder
youthyears =
youthclubs = Valley Rangers
years =
2003-2006
2006-2007
2007-Present
clubs = Nottingham Forest
Cork City
Shelbourne
Cork City
caps(goals) =
10 (1)
nationalyears = 2004-2005
nationalteam = Republic of Ireland U21
nationalcaps(goals) = 7 (1)Liam Kearney (born
January 10 1983 , Ireland), is an Irish professional footballer who currently plays for Cork City in theFootball League of Ireland [http://www.corkcityfc.ie/main.php] .Kearney plies his trade on the left wing and has represented the Republic of Ireland U21 team on 7 occasions, scoring once.
Career
Nottingham Forest
Liam Kearney joined Nottingham Forest from his youth club Valley Rangers. Whilst with Forest, Kearney appeared many times for several of the underage Irish national teams, from U16 to U20. He also attracted interest from Cheltenham manager
Bobby Gould . [ [http://origin.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11727_2258667,00.html Gould keen on Kearney] ] .Cork City
Kearney returned to Ireland in 2003, joining Cork City. In 2004, Liam made his Republic of Ireland U21 debut against Italian oppostion. Liam won 7 U21 caps whilst with Cork. 2005 saw Cork City and Kearney embark on a campaign that would ultimately see them win the league title, and progress into the First Round of the
UEFA Cup , having started as an unseeded side in the first qualifying round, eliminatingFK Ekranas from Lithuania and the eventual Swedish champions Djurgårdens IF, before being knocked out by Slavia Prague. Liam left Cork City for Shelbourne in 2005 following Cork's title win.helbourne
Kearney joined Shelbourne from the then league champions, Cork City, on a free transfer in January 2006. Liam was limited to few first team opportunities, making just 10 league appearances throughout the season, scoring once. Shelbourne manager
Pat Fenlon agreed to a temporary freezing of Liam's contract whilst he took a few weeks away from football during the 2006 season to regain his hunger and focus. [ [http://www.rte.ie/sport/2006/0705/shelbourne.html?rss Shelbourne v Finn Harps team news] ] [ [http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2006/07/17/fenlon-rules-out-move-for-free-fahey-115875-17395865/ FENLON RULES OUT MOVE FOR FREE FAHEY] ] Kearney returned in time to take a left wing berth in a friendly against English Championship side Sunderland. Kearney failed to break into the first team upon his return, but was rewarded with his second league winners medal in two years, as Shelbourne clinched the title on the last day. He has described his time in Dublin as "disappointing."Return to Cork City
Kearney departed Shelbourne on 22nd January 2007 to rejoin Cork City, signing a 2 year contract. [ [http://www.abcgoal.com/news.php?type=transfer&no=12929 CORK CITY FC SIGNS LIAM KEARNEY ON A FREE TRANSFER] ] Later that year he criticised the team's management for not settling players' contracts. [ [http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/kearney-slams-cork-city-over-contract-chaos-1231818.html Kearney slams Cork City over contract chaos] ] In August of 2008 he said that, despite Cork City's poor financial position and difficulties in re-signing and paying its players, he would prefer to stay with the club. [ [http://www.herald.ie/sport/soccer/irish/kearney-back-to-square-one-1461306.html Kearney back to square one] ]
Honours
*League of Ireland Championship: 2
**Cork City - 2005
**Shelbourne - 2006References
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