Kenny Browne leaves St Pats

The central defender took to Twitter to thank St Patrick’s Athletic fans for their help and support during his four-year spell and that it had been a privilege to play for “such a great club”.

 

Browne moved to the Saints from Waterford United before the start of the 2012 season, linking up with new manager Liam Buckley, who he had also played for at Sporting Fingal. He went straight into the side and made thirty league appearances that season, as the club finished third in the Premier Division. He also went on make six appearances in Europe as Hannover stopped the Saints’ progression in the third round.

 

He also played in the 2012 FAI Cup Final, which Derry City won 3-2 with Rory Patterson scoring in extra-time to see the Candystripes lift the trophy. It was Browne’s misplaced header that allowed Patterson the chance but he said “the fans after the 2012 cup final were brilliant towards me”.

 

The next season would see Browne and St Pats get their hands on their first piece of silverware under Liam Buckley. The defender made twenty-nine league appearances as the club lifted the league title, finishing ahead of Dundalk by three points. He was an integral part of a defence that only conceded twenty goals throughout the whole 2013 Premier Division campaign.

 

Browne continued to be a main part of the side for the 2014 season, with twenty-seven league appearances, although the Saints couldn’t replicate their form from the previous year and finished third. The Waterford man also scored his one and only league goal that year, netting the second in a 3-2 win over Cork City.

 



He also had a chance to redeem himself for 2012 as St Pats once again reached an FAI Cup Final against Derry City. This time he and the team would go one better and lift the trophy after a 2-0 win over Derry, banishing a barren spell of fifty-three years of not winning the FAI Cup.

 

2015 saw Browne only make seventeen league appearances and may have coincided with a near slip from the European places by the Saints, with them only securing fourth place with a final day win over Galway United. However, there was more silverware to be won as Browne played in the EA Sports Cup Final, which also saw St Pats triumph over Galway, although this time on penalties after a nil-all draw.

 

So Browne leaves having made one hundred and fifteen league appearances for the club and was heavily involved in all three of their triumphs of the league, FAI Cup and EA Sports Cup. Yet his parting words are not on himself but for the club and its fans.

 



 

 

 

 

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