K | Player Pics | A-Z of Players
Personal
Fullname: Johnny Kenny
aka: John Kenny
Born: 6 June 2003
Birthplace: Riverstown, County Sligo, Ireland
Signed: 9 January 2021 (from Sligo Rovers, est €150k)
On Loan: August 2022 – June 2023 (to Queen’s Park)
Left: –
Position: Forward
Debut: –
Squad No.: 24
Internationals: […]
International Caps: [TBC at end of career]
International Goals: [TBC at end of career]
Biog
Signed in January 2022, in a welcome but surprise move, but was mostly overshadowed by the recent high-profile treble signings of the trio from Japan. Celtic were under new management under Ange, and it was finally a club that was turning the corner. The fresh faced 18-year-old Johnny Kenny arrived as a work in progress at Celtic on a five year contract demonstrating some confidence in the young player.
[…]
–
Quotes
“Johnny has been magnificent for Sligo Rovers. At a very young age he showed all the attributes to make a successful career in the game and he can take great pride in what he has already achieved in these very early days. “It was clear a move would occur at some point and as it comes now, all of our staff, players and coaches wish him the very best. He retains our support whenever needed.”
Sligo manager Liam Buckley
“I’m a striker that likes to get in behind and press defenders. I bring massive work-rate to the team and hopefully I can score goals and get the fans on their feet.”
Johnny Kenny
–
Playing Career
[Table to indicate clubs played for, including dates, transfers and fees where known [e.g. soccerbase table]]
| APPEARANCES (subs) |
LEAGUE | SCOTTISH CUP | LEAGUE CUP | EUROPE | TOTAL |
| 2021-22 | |||||
| Goals | |||||
| Goals | |||||
| Goals | |||||
| Goals | |||||
| Total | |||||
| Goals |
Honours with Celtic
(Honours are marked below in which the player has played in at least one of the matches in the campaign.)
Scottish League
Scottish Cup
Scottish League Cup
Pictures
Forums
Articles
Links
Notes
Articles
Johnny Kenny: Celtic land teenage striker from Sligo Rovers as long-term contract revealed
By Matthew Elder
Saturday, 8th January 2022, 8:23 pm
Updated
14 hours ago
Sligo Rovers’ Johnny Kenny has signed for Celtic. Photo by Evan Logan/INPHO/Shutterstock (12582809z)
Sligo Rovers’ Johnny Kenny has signed for Celtic. Photo by Evan
https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/celtic/johnny-kenny-celtic-land-teenage-striker-from-sligo-rovers-as-long-term-contract-revealed-3520214
The 18-year-old has agreed a five-year contract with the Parkhead club after opting to turn down a rival offer from Hibs. It is believed Celtic paid a fee in the region of £125,000 for the youngster which includes add-ons and a sell-on clause.
Kenny is one of his country’s rising talents after finishing fifth in the goalscoring charts in his League of Ireland debut season last year with 11 goals and three assists helping Sligo to a third placed finish.
He is the fourth signing of the January window for Ange Postecoglou’s side after the triple signing of J-League trio Daizen Maeda, Reo Hatate and Yosuke Ideguchi.
Kenny took to Twitter following the announcement to post: “Delighted to join a massive club like this.”
Kenny follows fellow Republic of Ireland youth international Liam Scales, who joined from Shamrock Rovers in the summer window, in making the move to Celtic Park.
It is likely Kenny will join the Celtic B team in the first instance and ply his trade in the Scottish Lowland League while working with the Celtic coaching staff to develop his game.
Who is Johnny Kenny, the Shamrock Rovers kid on-loan from Celtic who is on fire in Europe
Former Ireland Under-21 striker Johnny Kenny is currently joint-fifth in the Europa Conference League goal charts – one behind Chelsea’s Joao Felix.
https://www.irishmirror.ie/sport/soccer/soccer-news/who-johnny-kenny-shamrock-rovers-34211636
Sport
ByMark McCadden
23:16, 28 NOV 2024Updated23:29, 28 NOV 2024
Shamrock Rovers’ head coach Stephen Bradley celebrates after the game with Johnny Kenny (Image: INPHO/Ryan Byrne)
Irish Mirror logo – whatsapp community
Get the latest Irish Mirror breaking news on WhatsApp
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info
Join us on WhatsApp
Shamrock Rovers have 21-year-old striker Johnny Kenny to thank for their latest sensational Europa Conference League result.
His 55th minute equaliser cancelled out Rapid Vienna’s early opener and earned Rovers their eighth point of an incredible campaign that shows no sign of slowing down.
Rovers spot in the knockouts is all but guaranteed, with the big question now whether they can push on for automatic last-16 qualification or whether it’s a play-off spot instead.
Kenny’s goal added another €133,000 to Rovers’ swelling prize money pot – and it also ended Rapid’s 100 percent record in the Conference League.
The Hoops are one of only six teams out of 36 in the competition to still be unbeaten after four games and are currently 10th in the table, ahead of games at home to Bosnian side Borac Banja Luka and away to Chelsea.
And it’s thanks in no small part to Kenny who, on Thursday night, added to the goals he scored against TNS and Larne. In total he has five goals in Europe so far this season, with three coming in the league phase of the Conference League.
That puts him joint-fifth in the goal charts, just one behind Chelsea’s Joao Felix.
But who is Johnny Kenny? Born in Sligo to a former footballer (his dad Johnny Kenny senior is a Sligo Rovers legend), he signed for his hometown club and made his first-team breakthrough there.
After one full season in senior football with the Bit O’ Red, he was snapped up in January 2022 by Celtic, then managed by Ange Postecoglou.
Aged just 18, he was sent out on loan to Queens Park without making a first-team appearance for the Bhoys. That spell in the Scottish Championship saw him play 12 times, but only twice as a starter, during the first half of the 2022/23 season.
Sign up for our League of Ireland news service on Whats App
Click this link or scan the QR code to receive the latest League of Ireland news and top stories from the Irish Mirror. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
Next up was a loan move back to the League of Ireland, where he signed for Shamrock Rovers for the 2023 campaign.
He scored six goals in 36 appearances, while it wasn’t long into his time with the Hoops when he made his Ireland Under-21 debut, scoring in a 2-1 friendly win against Iceland.
Hoops boss Stephen Bradley saw enough in Kenny to request another year-long loan deal – and the Bhoys obliged.
This time around, Kenny has been more prolific, with 13 league goals in 29 appearances and five in Europe.
What happens next is unclear. Kenny still has two games left in the Conference League before his latest loan spell expires, and Rovers are eager to keep him.
The player admitted earlier in the year that contact with Celtic had been “minimal”. His European form might change that.
Former Shamrock Rovers player Ronan Finn said after the Rapid Vienna game, while on punditry duty with Premier Sports, that Kenny was a different player to the one that arrived at Rovers two years ago.
“He has evolved so much since I played with Johnny two years ago,” said Finn.
“You see him now and he is a different animal to what he was then. He came in, he was raw, he was young, he would have learned off Rory (Gaffney) and Aaron (Greene), two really astute centre-forwards, being in the League of Ireland all their years.
“So he learned off them and as we’ve seen now on the European stage, physically he’s got stronger.”
And Hoops boss Stephen Bradley says there is more to come from the young forward.