Stephen Kenny: 'Playing for Ireland is very important for the players, it has to supersede anything they do in their career'

Seán O'Connor reporting from FAI HQ in Abbotstown.

Stephen Kenny was speaking to the media at FAI HQ this afternoon. Yesterday, the 50-year-old’s contract as Ireland boss was extended to the end of the Euro 2024 campaign.  

No Ireland manager before has endured such a turbulent opening 18-months in charge. The former Dundalk boss won one of his opening thirteen games, and a national referendum around his future seemed to take place every after match.

The team’s fortunes turned last June, as Kenny picked up his first win against Andorra. Subsequent performances against Portugal and Serbia in World Cup Qualifying won over may Irish supporters, who began to get behind Kenny’s emerging side.

Ireland went unbeaten in their final six games of 2021, including two 3-0 away wins to Azerbaijan and Luxembourg, and a 4-0 home win to Qatar. This run of results seemed to guarantee Kenny’s contract extension after all the uncertainty.

With a record 18,000 season tickets sold at the time of writing, extratime.com asked the Ireland manager how significant the support is to him and the team, especially in a year with no qualifiers.  

“It’s not a World Cup or European Qualifying year, so I think it’s particularly significant,” Kenny said.

“It’s the connection with the supporters and players, I think they're really identifying with them. We've seen some players really grow, players that we hope will become real heroes for the Irish public. We already have a role model captain in Seamus Coleman.”

“It’s an exciting period. Theres a great energy in the crowd when the players are there. You've seen it against Serbia, coning back to get the equalizer.  We hadn’t got that for ages in the empty stadiums, it just isn’t the same.”

“Playing for Ireland is very important for the players. It has to supersede anything they do in their career. We want the supporters to feel that their commitment has been rewarded.”



“We want that passion in the ground as we try to improve as a team. We want to do well in the Nations League and take that into the European Championship qualifying campaign.”

FAI CEO Jonathan Hill also spoke to extratime.com and added his views on the level of support for the national side.

“I think it's absolutely fantastic the response we’ve had from the fans in a non-qualification year,” Hill said.

“We’re very thankful for that. We're not complacent about it at all. I think it's amazing that in the first weekend of the March friendly games, we’re likely to be one of the only countries in Europe that will have a sold-out stadium. That’s testimony to the support that we do have.”

Ireland host world number one side Belgium at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday 26th March, before facing Lithuania on Tuesday March 29th. Kenny is expected to announce his squad for the friendlies on Friday 18th March.

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