Cork City appoint former player Liam Kearney as first team coach

Cork City have announced the appointment of former player Liam Kearney as first team coach, a role left vacated by Alan Reynolds as departed for Waterford FC yesterday.

The Conna native last played for Cork City back in 2015 before leaving to link up with Premier UK Soccer in the states where he coached in North Carolina to a variety of players from under-8s up to under-18.

This will be the former left winger's fourth time at the club having had three spells as a player in the green of Cork between stints at Shelbourne, Derry City, Waterford United and Dandenong Thunder in Australia.

“I am delighted to get the opportunity and I want to thank John Caulfield for having the faith in me to add me to his backroom staff,” Kearney told Cork City's official website.

“I know a lot of the players and the staff as well, and I know the club for a long time too, so I am delighted to be back and hope I can contribute to a successful season.”

In his final season, as opportunities to feature on the pitch became increasingly rare, Kearney set about planning for the future and he set about completing his coaching badges.

“In my last season here as a player, I completed the UEFA B Licence because I knew that was the road I wanted to go down. Then I got the opportunity to go to America and I spent the last year over there coaching full-time.

“That gave me a good base and allowed me to figure out what things I liked and didn’t like, and a sense of what kind of coach I want to be.”

The different position in the dressing room in Turners Cross will be something that Kearney will have to figure out quickly.

One fact he will know from his time is that Cork fans want success, with a league title come the end of October 2017 top of most of their wish lists ahead of a season that starts in just over 50 days.

“I will be on a different side of the fence now, but I hope I have a lot to offer in terms of advice, coaching and helping out the lads. No one is under any illusions here as to what the targets are; you don’t even have to say it. Everyone is here for one thing and that is success.”

City boss John Caulfield hailed Kearney as the ideal addition to his staff, saying: “We are delighted to bring Liam into the backroom team.

“He is a guy that we all know very well, he’s a Cork lad and he played with the club. In my two seasons here, Liam was a player and he did fantastically well for us.

“He has been off doing his coaching badges and he was in America last year, so it is great to have him coming back in. He knows us and we know him, and he will have a lot to offer us.”

“He has won trophies with the club, he has played in Europe for the club and he has worked really hard on the coaching side of things over the last few years.

“The way things are progressing at the club, it is great to be bringing someone like Liam into the coaching team. He is very enthusiastic about things and really keen to get going.

“He will learn a lot from us and, at the same time, he will have some new ideas as well, and that is what we want. We are ambitious, we want to drive on this season and he is a perfect fit for the situation.”

“Liam knows the hard work that goes on at the club; he has seen as a player the work that goes on from the management. He understands that it is 24/7, he’s ambitious and he wants us to win trophies, which is what we all want to do.”