The prospect of a League of Ireland club being established in Kerry has edged closer.
Kerry FC says their application to enter the club licensing process with the FAI has been accepted.
Those behind the proposal are hopeful of a team being in place for the start of the 2023 season and being the fifth Munster team to enter the league.
Statement
Kerry Football Club is delighted to announce that our application to enter the Club Licensing process with the Football Association of Ireland has been accepted.
It has been a dream for many years to provide the highest level of senior football in the Kingdom and Kerry FC hope to be successful in our bid to bring League of Ireland football to Mounthawk Park in February 2023.
Led by League of Ireland stalwart Billy Dennehy and American-based directors Steven Conway and Brian Ainscough, we have been working with the Kerry District League for many months now to realise this dream and complete the player pathway for the players of Kerry after six years competing in the underage National Leagues.
The people of Kerry have always been proud of their appetite to compete at the highest level in all sports and we hope to provide this full pathway for all those players representing Kerry Football Club. Kerry FC believe that a successful application will offer real opportunity to promote our game in the Kerry region as we look forward to bringing the biggest clubs in Irish football to our county.
“Now that the licensing process is underway, we welcome all offers of support as we share this exciting journey with the people of Kerry. More information will be released in due course.
2007 Kilkenny City home shirt. 🇮🇪
— Austin Lee (@austinmjlee) May 23, 2022
The shirt from my hometown club’s last ever season in the League of Ireland before they decided to fold after succumbing to financial difficulties. 😢
A sad end to our club which still hurts to this day. 💔#EveryManAFootballArtist 🖤💛 pic.twitter.com/1bR94WUmAo
Kilkenny City A.F.C
From a Kilkenny perspective, rabid fans will enter their 15th year without a club to support after the dissolution of Kilkenny City A.F.C.
See also: A new book set to be released looking at “History of soccer in Kilkenny & District 1893-2020”
Over the years we have seen many Kilkenny players going onto represent the county professionalyl at home or across the pond with notable names such as Gavan Holohan, Jimmy Keoghane, Tom O’Connor, Dave Mulcahy, Mikey Drennan, and Sean Maguire. In fact, Maguire became the first Kilkenny man to represent the Republic of Ireland since Matt O’Mahoney from Mullinavat did so in the 1930s.
Kilkenny has enjoyed some nice success it has to be said in the Oscar Traynor competition, which utilizes the best players from the junior league in recent years reaching the final on two successive occasions. Unfortunately for them, they lost both games against Clare and Carlow, both counties that also do not have a League of Ireland club. This is a shame as the talent is there, but no avenue for some players besides junior soccer. Now do not get me wrong, I love junior soccer, but there is no denying it breaks my heart driving passed Buckley Park to Derdimus knowing what could be.
See also: Sunday League Football, there is no place like it.
The best hope currently comes in the form of Carlow Kilkenny FC, which has been adding age grades to its ranks over the years. It has been possibly mooted that a team could be ready to partake in the Women’s National League in the next few years, which is great. Kilkenny recently enjoyed supporting the last Kilkenny team that enter the national league, however, the young side endured a tough tenure before ultimately being denied access back to the league after a few seasons.
Will we see it in the next few years? Man, I hope so. I am happy for Kerry fans, I am, I’m just sad for all of us wannabe supporters without a team to support.
