Conor Kearns: "So many teams who have so much to play for and every game matters"

UCD goalkeeper Conor Kearns has established himself as one of the SSE Aitricity League First Division’s most consistent shot stoppers in 2018 with some fine displays of maturity throughout the season. 

After the Students morale boosting win over Galway United last weekend, Kearns spoke exclusively to extratime.ie and explained that with this being arguably the most unpredictable and exciting First Division in history that he is loving being part of it.   

“It’s the tensest league I’ve been involved in ever!” Kearns declared. “If you get a good or bad result one week you go into the dressing room after the game getting the results and suddenly, the team who were fifth are now second. You lose a game and there’s four teams back in the race very quickly. 

“When Longford beat us, we were kind of looking over our shoulders to them and saying these are putting a run together now. All of a sudden it changes with a couple of bad results, people are saying ‘they’re out of it’ while I don’t think you can rule anyone out of it!

"You’re looking at every fixture thinking they could win four or five on the spin and they’re back in it! 

“With the Playoff system coming back, there’s so many teams who have so much to play for and every game matters and it’s only beneficial to the league!”

With UCD being a team comprised of students who are all similar in terms of age profile, the talented 20-year-old remarked on the close bond between the players while also lauding the efforts of the management team in keeping the group in check throughout. 

“Between Collie O’Neill and Ian Ryan, they’ve really established a great group of lads together. We all get along very well and we all spend a lot of time together so we’re very familiar with each other.

“It’s a close-knit group but we’re all very focused and driven. It’s all well and good enjoying our football but the main thing is that our heads are well focused on the main prize between now and the end of the season.

"We’ve got a big last six weeks left and we won’t be taking it lightly at all!”



Life as a student and playing football at the same time can be a stressful during exam periods. 

“It’s a lifestyle that provides you with a different set of challenges to working and playing football at the same time. It does bring its own set of pressures. The club are very good with helping us out in terms of academic assistance and things like that.

“We’re all part of the college team as well so from the sporting side of things we’ve won things together now and we’ve gone through a great bonding experience with the Collingwood Cup and success and it can only help.

Having made the jump up from the UCD underage set-up, Kearns revealed that the input from his more experienced counterparts like Ger Barron at the club has been instrumental in helping him progress.  

“It was tough making the jump up to the first team because it’s obviously a much higher standard than what I have played at before,” said Kearns. “I think a lot of credit has to go to Ger Barron in particular.

“It’s been a long process, Ger has been working tirelessly with me ever since Christmas. We’ve been preparing for the season since then and it’s been a lot of hard work, but, thankfully we’re getting the rewards for it now!” 



Last season was a year to remember for Kearns. While not getting much game time with the first team squad, the Dubliner played a starring role in UCD’s UEFA Youth League adventure last term against Norwegian side Molde FK. 

Commenting about playing on the European stage, the UCD netminder noted that it was an experience that he will always cherish when he looks back on his career in later years. 

“That was just different class! It was surreal almost. You might never get a chance to play opposition like that ever again. The first-team had their Europa League journey (in 2015) and their time in the spotlight with that, so a lot of the lads helped us with that side of it.

"When we went to Norway it really kicked in. It was brilliant.”

UCD are known for their attractive style of football and possession-based play. A key cog in that system is the presence of a competent, and most importantly, confident goalkeeper who is willing to learn and develop in an adventurous style of play. Kearns to his credit has excelled in this role. 

“I love it personally. It even goes back to the schoolboy days for me when I was at Templeogue United when that style of play was our philosophy as well. Al Sugg, who brought me into the club at the time, was a big spokesperson for that style of football. 

“Same goes with Collie O’Neill. Collie just gives you so much freedom and it’s kind of Guardiola-esque. He allows mistakes to be made as long as you’re trying to do things the right way. 

“He took me in very early on in the season and said he didn’t want to change me as a goalkeeper. He didn’t want to change my identity and he said that I would fit into his system very well. 

With UCD sitting pretty on the top of the pile with 45 points, five clear of their closest challengers Drogheda in second, it appears as if it is the Students’ title to lose but the latest product of the UCD assembly line has quashed talk of the title already being a done deal.   

“It’s the same thig when you’re in touching distance of a clean sheet, you can’t really jinx it. We can’t take anything for granted. Drogheda are only five points behind us and they’ve pulled a bit of a run together. 

 “Athlone is our biggest game of the season on Friday and we’ll see where that leaves us come the end of play.”

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