Conor Kearns
Kearns with Galway United in 2021
Personal information
Full name Conor Kearns
Date of birth (1998-05-06) 6 May 1998
Place of birth Dublin, Ireland
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team
 Shelbourne
Number 1
Youth career
Templeogue United
2015–2017 UCD
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2019 UCD 55 (0)
2020   St Patrick's Athletic 0 (0)
2021–2022 Galway United 55 (0)
2023– Shelbourne 35 (0)
International career
2019 Republic of Ireland U21 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 15:16, 8 November 2023

Conor Kearns (born 6 May 1998) is an Irish professional footballer who plays for League of Ireland Premier Division club Shelbourne. He previously spent 5 years with UCD, as well as a season with St Patrick's Athletic and 2 seasons with Galway United.

Club career

Early career

Raised in the Dublin suburb of Templeogue, Kearns started playing football with his local side Templeogue United. He signed for UCD in 2015, playing for their under 19 side for the 2015, 2016 and 2017 seasons. In April 2017, Kearns scored a Bicycle kick in the 92nd minute away to Cork City under 19's.[1][2] The goal went viral and later featured on popular TV show Soccer AM.[3] He was part of the squad that won the League of Ireland U19 Division in September 2016.[4] He featured in both legs of UCD's UEFA Youth League tie against Molde FK of Norway in September/October 2017. The first leg saw his side win 2–1,[5] while they lost 2–1 away from home in the second leg before losing 5–4 on penalties, despite Kearns saving one of Molde's penalties.[6]

UCD

Kearns' first involvement with the UCD senior team came towards the end of the 2016 season, when he was named in the matchday squad but remained as an unused substitute in 7 games.[7] Although he again didn't make an appearance, 2017 saw him take another step closer to the number 1 shirt, as he was second choice keeper for much of the year, remaining an unused substitute in 22 of his side's 28 league games.[7] He made his debut at senior level on the opening night of the 2018 League of Ireland First Division, in a 2–1 win over Dublin rivals Shelbourne.[8] On 14 September 2018, Kearns and his UCD side drew 1–1 with Finn Harps to win the League of Ireland First Division.[9] He made 32 appearances in all competitions over the season.[7] The 2019 season was Kearns' first season at League of Ireland Premier Division level. With such a young squad, coupled with the mid-season departure of many of the team's better players including Gary O'Neill, Neil Farrugia & Conor Davis, meant the side were in a relegation battle with Finn Harps for the entirety of the season. On 15 July 2019, UCD beat Bohemians 1–0 at the UCD Bowl.[10] After the match, Kearns celebrated in front of the Bohemians fans who had been booing him for what they perceived as time wasting, which Bohs captain Derek Pender confronted Kearns over his celebrations which resulted in a brawl on the pitch between both sets of players, while Kearns had bottles thrown at him from the visiting supporters who also tried to attack him as he left the pitch.[11][12][13] For their part in the brawl, both Kearns and Pender were sent off by referee Derek Tomney which resulted in one match bans but Kearns was given an additional 5 game ban, with Pender receiving an additional 3 games.[14][15] Speaking on the incident, Kearns denied any deliberate time wasting, stating I was playing the game with an injury and whenever I went down to get treatment, there was no way it was timewasting – it would’ve been pushing it to say it was that, but they were on my case any chance they got. But, in terms of having to justify it, there’s a lot of people who have been in the situation I have been in that hasn’t had to deal with the same backlash that I have. So, to a degree, you can feel unfortunate, but at the end of the day it was handbags. Nobody was hurt, there was no real malice – there was just pushing and shoving but it was probably a bit unfortunate and naïve on my part..[16] UCD were later awarded a 3–0 win as Bohemians had fielded an ineligible player, the suspended Danny Mandroiu.[17] Kearns made a total of 33 appearances in all competitions as UCD were relegated after finishing bottom of the league with just 19 points.[18]

St Patrick's Athletic

On 27 November 2019, it was announced that Kearns had signed for St Patrick's Athletic, under new manager Stephen O'Donnell, joining former UCD teammate Jason McClelland who had signed a few weeks earlier.[19] Due to the postponement of football in Ireland as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic, Kearns had to wait until 10 August 2020 to make his competitive debut for the club, a 1–0 loss away to Finn Harps in the FAI Cup.[20] This proved to be his only appearance over the course of what was a shortened season, due to the form of first choice keeper Brendan Clarke, who was voted Player of the Year. On 26 November 2020, Kearns announced that he had left the club, following the end of his contract.[21]

Galway United

Kearns signed for League of Ireland First Division club Galway United on 23 January 2021, under manager John Caulfield.[22] He made his debut for the club on the opening night of the season in a 0–0 draw with Shelbourne on 26 March 2021 at Eamonn Deacy Park.[23]

Personal life

Kearns' mother Pamela is a Labour Party councillor in the Templeogue Rathfarnham constituency. He spoke in May 2019 about helping with canvassing for his mother in the run up to elections.[24]

International career

Kearns made his debut for the Republic of Ireland U21s on 6 February 2019, playing in a friendly against Republic of Ireland Ametuers and keeping a clean sheet in a 1–0 win.[25] On 21 May 2019, he was named in the 2019 Toulon Tournament squad by manager Stephen Kenny.[26] He played in the 3rd/4th place playoff against Mexico U23s, replacing Caoimhín Kelleher in the 64th minute as Ireland drew 0–0 but lost 4–3 on penalties despite Kearns saving Érick Aguirre's penalty in the shootout.[27] Kearns along with fellow St Patrick's Athletic teammates Lee Desmond and Shane Griffin, was called up to train with the Republic of Ireland senior squad on 31 August 2020, in what was new manager Stephen Kenny's first training session with the squad.[28]

Career statistics

As of match played 3 November 2023[29]
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
UCD 2016 LOI First Division 0000000[lower-alpha 1]000
2017 0000000[lower-alpha 1]000
2018 25040201[lower-alpha 1]0320
2019[30] LOI Premier Division 30010002[lower-alpha 1]0330
Total 550502030650
St Patrick's Athletic 2020 LOI Premier Division 0010——10
Galway United 2021 LOI First Division 23010—2[lower-alpha 2]0260
2022 32000—3[lower-alpha 3]0350
Total 55010—50610
Shelbourne 2023[31] LOI Premier Division 35010—0[lower-alpha 1]0360
Career Total 14508020801630

Honours

Club

Individual

References

  1. ↑ Duffy, Emma. "Believe it when you see it! UCD keeper scores equalising bicycle-kick in injury-time". The42.
  2. ↑ "Extratime.com - Extratime.ie - Live Updates - 2017 U19 Southern Elite Division - Cork City U19 -v- UCD U19". www.extratime.com.
  3. ↑ "Conor Kearns on Soccer AM! - UCD AFC Official Website". www.ucdsoccer.com.
  4. ↑ "Under 19 Champions!! - UCD AFC Official Website". www.ucdsoccer.com.
  5. ↑ "Extratime.com - Extratime.ie - Live Updates - 2017/18 UEFA Youth League First Round - UCD U19 -v- Molde FK U19". www.extratime.com.
  6. ↑ "Extratime.com - Extratime.ie - Live Updates - 2017/18 UEFA Youth League First Round - Molde FK U19 -v- UCD U19". www.extratime.com.
  7. 1 2 3 "Republic of Ireland - C. Kearns - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway". ie.soccerway.com.
  8. ↑ "League Report: UCD 2 - 1 Shelbourne". ExtraTime.com.
  9. ↑ Bowl, Emmet Malone at UCD. "UCD top of the class as they make return to Premier Division". The Irish Times.
  10. ↑ "League Report: UCD 1 - 0 Bohemians". ExtraTime.com.
  11. ↑ Doggett, Eamon (16 July 2019). "UCD goalkeeper Kearns and Bohs fans spark ugly scenes after 1-0 win". DublinLive.
  12. ↑ "Watch: UCD goalkeeper irks Bohemians as melee ensues". 16 July 2019 – via www.rte.ie. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  13. ↑ "Watch: Bohs Fans Attack UCD Keeper Conor Kearns After Losing 1-0". Extra.ie. 16 July 2019. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  14. ↑ "Kearns and Pender given additional bans after clash". 1 August 2019 – via www.rte.ie. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  15. ↑ Blake, Ben. "Lengthy bans dished out for League of Ireland fracas". The42.
  16. ↑ "Conor Kearns: "I had probably never played in that hostile of an environment before"". ExtraTime.com.
  17. ↑ "Bohs fined and UCD scoreline changed over banned player". 18 July 2019 – via www.rte.ie. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  18. ↑ "Summary - Premier Division - Republic of Ireland - Results, fixtures, tables and news - Soccerway". us.soccerway.com.
  19. ↑ "Ireland U21 keeper Conor Kearns joins St Patrick's Athletic from UCD". independent.
  20. ↑ "Finn Harps (1) - St Patrick's Athletic (0)". www.stpatsfc.com.
  21. ↑ "Thanks to everyone who helped me during my time at @stpatsfc, time for a new challenge now ⚽". Twitter. Archived from the original on 26 November 2020. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  22. ↑ "Conor Kearns heads west to join Galway United". 23 January 2021.
  23. ↑ "League Report: Galway United 0 - 0 Shelbourne". ExtraTime.com.
  24. ↑ Dowling, Paul (17 May 2019). "UCD's Conor Kearns accepts he comes second best to his mum at election time". Irish Mirror.
  25. ↑ "Ireland U21s Home-based squad draw with Irish Amateurs | Football Association of Ireland". www.fai.ie.
  26. ↑ "Ireland U21: Kenny names Toulon tournament squad | Football Association of Ireland". www.fai.ie.
  27. ↑ "Festival International Espoirs Football Tournoi Maurice Revello Toulon". festival-foot-espoirs.com.
  28. ↑ "Saints Trio Train With Ireland Squad". www.stpatsfc.com.
  29. ↑ "Republic of Ireland – C.Kearns". Soccerway. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  30. ↑ "Conor Kearns | Football Stats | Shelbourne | Season 2019/2020 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  31. ↑ "Conor Kearns | Football Stats | Shelbourne | Season 2023/2024 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
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