Alan Nigel Kernaghan (born 25 April 1967) is a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

manager and former professional player. As a player, he was a defender from 1985 to 2006, notably in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

for

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

and in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

for

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

and

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The club competes in , the third tier of English football, and is managed by Graham Alexander. The club was founded in 1903 and ...

. He played the final nine years of his career playing in Scotland with

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland. The team competes in the , the second division of Scottish football. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun (or Saint Johnstoun)—an old name o ...

Brechin City Brechin City Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the townDespite the name of the football club, Brechin is not an official city. Brechin was historically known as a city because it has a cathedral. of Brechin in Angus. The club w ...

, Clyde, Livingston,

Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...

and

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

. Born in England, he was capped 26 times by the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

, scoring one goal. During his coaching career, Kernaghan has managed Scottish clubs Clyde and Dundee, and

Glentoran Glentoran Football Club is a professional football club based in East Belfast, Northern Ireland, that plays in the NIFL Premiership. The club was founded in 1882 and has since won more than 130 major honours. They are one of three Northern Iris ...

in the Northern Irish league, which he resigned from after an embarrassing 3–2 defeat to struggling Championship side Annagh United. He has also worked for other clubs in a variety of coaching roles.

Playing career

Born in

Otley Otley is a market town and civil parish at a bridging point on the River Wharfe, in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the population was 13,668 at the 2011 c ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

, England, Kernaghan moved with his family to Bangor, County Down at the age of four. He represented

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

at schoolboy level and the

at senior level. He began his playing career as an apprentice at

, and went on to make 212 appearances during an eight-year period, scoring 16 goals. In September 1993, Kernaghan was signed for

by then-boss

Brian Horton Brian "Nobby" Horton (born 4 February 1949) is an English former footballer and manager. He spent 16 years as a professional player and 22 years as a manager, making 689 appearances and managing 1,098 matches. In addition to this, he spent four ...

. He went on loan to various clubs—

in 1994,

in 1996, and then to

in 1997. The Saints signed him on a permanent deal just before the end of the year, after he was given a free transfer from Manchester City. He enjoyed four years at

McDiarmid Park McDiarmid Park is a stadium in Perth, Scotland, Perth, Scotland, used mainly for association football. It has been the home ground of Scottish Premiership side St Johnstone F.C., St Johnstone since its opening in 1989. The stadium has an All-seat ...

, making 60 league appearances and scoring five goals. Kernaghan then joined

, but he made only three competitive appearances for the club. He then moved to Clyde, where he started as a player but was promoted to a player/manager role in the 2003–04 season. He guided Clyde to a second-placed finish in the

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

, behind Inverness Caley Thistle, a division which they led for the majority of the season. Kernaghan made 63 appearances for Clyde as a player, scoring three goals. Kernaghan's next move was to Livingston as assistant manager to

Allan Preston Allan Preston (born 16 August 1969) is a Scottish retired professional footballer and manager. He is currently a radio sports pundit for BBC Scotland. Playing career Preston, who predominantly played at left-back, began his career as a 15-ye ...

. He was on a player/assistant manager role at the club, making four first team appearances for Livingston, but he was sacked along with Preston after a poor run of results. Kernaghan next moved to

, where he took up a player/coach role.

Coaching career

Kernaghan was appointed

manager in September 2005. He was removed from the position, after an unsuccessful spell, in April 2006. After this, Kernaghan became the first former Republic of Ireland player to hold a coaching role at

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

. He left this position in February 2012 to join

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

. Kernaghan made an appearance as a player during a 2013–14 pre-season friendly versus FC Einheit Rudolstadt, replacing

Aaron Pierre Aaron Pierre may refer to: * Aaron Pierre (footballer) (born 1993), Grenadian footballer * Aaron Pierre (actor) (born 1994), English actor {{hndis, Pierre, Aaron ...

after 65 minutes. He left Brentford in December 2013, after new manager

Mark Warburton Mark Warburton (born 6 September 1962) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Association football, player who is currently the Sporting Director and Head of Soccer for Sporting Club Jacksonville ...

decided to make changes to the club's coaching staff. Kernaghan was appointed manager of

in November 2015. Losing to Annagh United in the League Cup on 30 August 2016 was the final game in charge for Kernaghan, he then tendered his resignation after the game.

Rangers

Kernaghan was Rangers under 20's manager from 10 December 2006 until 24 February 2012. Players coming through Rangers Academy during that period included Steven McLaren (Sheffield Wednesday), Hamed Namouchi (Tunisian International), Alan Hutton, Charlie Adam, Dean Furman (Oldham Athletic), and Danny Wilson (Liverpool)

International career

Brought up in Bangor, Northern Ireland, Kernaghan played for Northern Ireland Schoolboys six times. However, as the

Irish Football Association The Irish Football Association (IFA) is the governing body for association football in Northern Ireland. It organised the Ireland national football team (1882–1950), Ireland national football team from 1880 to 1950, which after 1954, became t ...

policy at the time did not select players who were not or whose parents were not born in Northern Ireland, he wasn't selected for the senior team. Due to his grandmother being an Irish citizen he was entitled to Irish citizenship, and he was selected by

Jack Charlton John Charlton (8 May 193510 July 2020) was an English professional Association football, footballer and Manager (association football), manager who played as a Defender (association football), centre-back for Leeds. He was part of the England ...

to play for the Republic of Ireland. Kernaghan earned 22 caps, scored one goal and was selected for the

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States w ...

Personal life

Kernaghan has Type 1

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

References

External links

*
Interview regarding nationality

First interview as Glentoran Manager
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kernaghan, Alan 1967 births Living people British people of Irish descent Sportspeople from Otley Footballers from West Yorkshire Men's association football defenders Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Men's association footballers from Northern Ireland Republic of Ireland men's international footballers 1994 FIFA World Cup players Republic of Ireland men's international footballers from Northern Ireland Middlesbrough F.C. players Charlton Athletic F.C. players Manchester City F.C. players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players St Johnstone F.C. players Brechin City F.C. players Falkirk F.C. players Livingston F.C. players Clyde F.C. players English Football League players Premier League players Scottish Premier League players Scottish Football League players Scottish Football League managers Clyde F.C. managers Dundee F.C. managers Rangers F.C. non-playing staff Livingston F.C. non-playing staff Brentford F.C. managers Glentoran F.C. managers Association football managers from Northern Ireland People with type 1 diabetes NIFL Premiership managers