Kevin Finbarr Long (born 18 August 1990) is an Irish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays for Major League Soccer club

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BM ...

and the Republic of Ireland national team. He plays mainly as a centre-back but can also fill in at full-back. Long began his career with

Cork City Cork ( , from , meaning 'marsh') is the second largest city in Ireland and third largest city by population on the island of Ireland. It is located in the south-west of Ireland, in the province of Munster. Following an extension to the city's ...

before joining

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...

in 2010 as a 19-year-old. He never established himself as a regular in the Burnley side, and spent several spells out on loan, before leaving the club in 2023 to sign for

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...

. He moved on to Toronto FC in February 2024.

Club career

Cork City

Long came through the

youth structure, before signing on professional terms in January 2008. He played for the Cork City teams that won the

FAI Youth Cup The FAI Youth Cup, also known as the FAI Umbro Youth Challenge Cup, is a cup competition organised by the FAI for youth association football clubs and teams in the Republic of Ireland. The inaugural winners were Greenmount Rangers. The competi ...

, the Munster Youth Cup and

FAI Futsal Cup The FAI Futsal Cup is a cup competition organized by the Football Association of Ireland for futsal teams based in the Republic of Ireland. The winners qualify to represent the Republic of Ireland in the UEFA Futsal Cup. The competition was intro ...

in 2009. Shortly after, the centre half made his senior City debut away to St Patrick's Athletic, coming on as a second-half substitute.

Burnley

With his Cork City contract due to expire in November 2009, Long was linked with English clubs including

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, eas ...

, Preston North End,

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

and

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

. On 26 November,

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

club

confirmed that they had paid a six-figure fee and "beaten off stiff competition from top clubs north and south of the border"reported as Celtic and Evertonto engage Long on a three-and-a-half-year contract, to begin when the January 2010 transfer window opened.

Loan to Accrington Stanley

On 15 October 2010, Long joined

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

club

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England. The club competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They have spent their complete his ...

on a month's loan. He made his debut for the club in the 3–2 defeat to

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

, but was sent off after 17 minutes for a foul on

Adam Le Fondre Glenville Adam James Le Fondre (born 2 December 1986), known as Adam Le Fondre, is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Sydney FC in the A-League. He previously played for his hometown club Stockport County as well a ...

. The loan was twice extended before he returned to Burnley on 18 January 2011 after cracking a bone in his foot during a match against

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league sy ...

. He rejoined Stanley at the end of January on loan for the remainder of the season. He made 17 appearances. Long again signed for Stanley on 5 August 2011, this time on loan until the following January. As he did during his first spell on loan, Long maintained his first-team status. He scored the first goal of his English career in a 2–2 draw with Plymouth Argyle on 8 October, and went on to score against

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been ...

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

and

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an English professional football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, that was wound-up after a High Court ruling on 16 September 2020. Initially known as Macclesfield F.C., the club was formed in 1874 ...

. He re-joined Burnley on 5 January 2012, having made 26 appearances.

Loan to Rochdale

Long's former manager at Accrington, John Coleman, signed him for

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

club

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

on 27 January 2012 on loan for a month. After playing four matches with two clean sheets during a run of two wins and a draw, Long extended his loan spell at Rochdale until the end of April. He continued in the first team, but Rochdale were unable to avoid

relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

Loan to Portsmouth

On 18 August 2012, Long joined EFL League One side

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

on a one-month emergency loan. He made his first appearance the same day, as a member of a team of debutants starting a 1–1 draw against AFC Bournemouth, was sent off for a second bookable offence in his third, and suffered a back injury in his fifth and last that meant his loan was not renewed.

Return to Burnley

Long scored his first goal for Burnley in a 4–3

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

defeat at

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

on 4 January 2014. He made his

debut a year later, in a 3–3 draw away to Newcastle United on 1 January 2015. He replaced the injured

Jason Shackell Jason Philip Shackell (born 27 September 1983) is a former English professional footballer who last played for Lincoln City. Shackell primarily plays as a centre-back. Career Norwich City Shackell is a product of the Norwich City youth academ ...

in the 17th minute, but 20 minutes later was himself replaced, becoming the third Burnley player to be substituted during the match. He had ruptured his cruciate knee ligaments. A few days later, he signed an extended contract with Burnley to run until 2017.

Loan to Barnsley

In November 2015, after regaining full fitness, Long joined League One club Barnsley on a month's loan. He scored a late winner against

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic be ...

on his debut, but was sent off in his second game, against

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...

. He went on to help Barnsley reach the Football League Trophy final, successfully converting his kick in the

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

that decided the northern area final. It was his last touch of a ball for Barnsley before his loan expired.

Loan to Milton Keynes Dons

On 24 March 2016, Long joined

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

club

Milton Keynes Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The ...

on loan for the remainder of the 2015–16 season.

Birmingham City

In January 2023, Long signed for Championship club

until the end of the season. Lack of match fitness marred his early appearanceshe had not played first-team football for eight months prior to joiningbut head coach

John Eustace John Mark Eustace (born 3 November 1979) is an English professional association football, football Coach (sports), coach and former Football player, player who is head coach of club Birmingham City F.C., Birmingham City. During his playing car ...

continued to select him, and he started 20 of a possible 23 matches. Long was one of six senior professionals included on Birmingham's list of players to be released, but signed a new one-year contract with the club on 25 June. He played every minute of Birmingham's Championship season under Eustace's management, demonstrating aerial strength to complement centre-back partner Dion Sanderson's speed and ball skills, but lost his place to Emanuel Aiwu when

Wayne Rooney Wayne Mark Rooney (born 24 October 1985) is an English professional football manager and former player, who is the manager of Major League Soccer club D.C. United in the United States. He spent much of his playing career as a forward while ...

took over as manager in October. A calf injury kept him out until January 2024, when

Tony Mowbray Anthony Mark Mowbray (born 22 November 1963) is an English former professional footballer who is currently the manager of Sunderland. Mowbray played for Middlesbrough, Celtic and Ipswich Town as a defender. He began his coaching career with Ip ...

restored him to the team, and he started four Championship matches before leaving the club for an undisclosed fee on 20 February.

Toronto FC

Long signed for Major League Soccer club

on 20 February 2024. His contract covered 2024 with an option for 2025. He made his MLS debut five days later, playing the whole of the goalless opening-day visit to

FC Cincinnati Football Club Cincinnati, commonly known as FC Cincinnati, is an American professional soccer club based in Cincinnati. The club plays in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The team succeeded the lower-division team of the ...

. He scored his first goal for the club against Simcoe County Rovers in a 5-0 victory at the Canadian Championship on April 24th, 2024.

International career

In May 2017, he received his first call-up to the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

senior side in a 37-man squad for a training camp in

Fota Island Fota (statutory spelling Foaty; ga, Fóite) is an island in Cork Harbour, Ireland, just north of the larger island of Great Island. Fota Island is host to Ireland's only wildlife park – as well as the historical Fota House and gardens and go ...

. He made the cut for the final squad for the friendlies against

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

and

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

, and made his debut on 1 June in the 3–1 defeat to Mexico at the

MetLife Stadium MetLife Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, 5 mi (8 km) west of New York City. Opened in 2010 to replace Giants Stadium, it serves as the home for the New York Giants a ...

, replacing John Egan as a second-half substitute.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

:''Republic of Ireland score listed first, score column indicates score after each Long goal.''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Long, Kevin 1990 births Living people Association footballers from County Cork Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's international footballers Men's association football defenders Cork City F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Accrington Stanley F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players Barnsley F.C. players Milton Keynes Dons F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Toronto FC players League of Ireland players English Football League players Premier League players Major League Soccer players Republic of Ireland men's futsal players Republic of Ireland expatriate men's association footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Irish expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Irish expatriate sportspeople in Canada