Stephen Kenny

During his playing career, Kenny spent two years at Belvedere as a schoolboy before signing for St Patrick's Athletic. Without making an appearance he then transferred to Home Farm, playing just four games in the League of Ireland First Division, making his League of Ireland debut on 13 March 1994. Following time at Home Farm, Kenny had an offer to sign for Kilkenny City, before choosing to sign for hometown club Tallaght Town as player-manager. Starting in Senior 1B of the Leinster Senior League, Kenny guided the club to three successive promotions, before Shamrock Rovers merged with Tallaght Town.

Early career

Following his time at Tallaght Town, Kenny moved to St Patrick's Athletic when he took charge of the Dublin side's under-21 squad in the Athletic Union League, guiding the team to a league win.

Longford Town

In the summer of 1998, Kenny became the youngest manager in National League history when he took over Longford Town at the age of 26. He led Longford to huge success during his three-year tenure as they won promotion to the League of Ireland Premier Division for the first time and subsequently reached the 2001 FAI Cup Final, qualifying for the 2001–02 UEFA Cup. During his time at Longford, his budget for the entire squad was £1,000 and he spent money out of his own pocket on transfer fees for Richie Parsons and Robbie Coyle with money that was supposed to be for wooden floors in the new house he and his wife had bought. He also organised a family holiday to Dungarvan, County Waterford, so he could speak face to face with Waterford natives Alan Kirby and Alan Reynolds, both of whom he convinced to sign for the club.

Bohemians

In December 2001, Kenny left the midlands club and became manager of Bohemians, taking over at Dalymount Park. Bohemians were then the champions of the Eircom League, having won the Double the previous season. However, the club was in something of a crisis, with former manager Roddy Collins' successor Pete Mahon struggling after a strong start to the season. Kenny's impact at Bohemians was immediate, as the…

Kenny grew up in Tallaght and lived there for the first 18 years of his life. He attended Our Lady of Loreto Boys National School and Old Bawn Community School. Kenny ran a successful meat-production business in the late 1990s before moving into football management full-time.

Kenny is married and has four children; two sons and two daughters. His son Eoin Kenny is a professional footballer, having signed his first professional contract on 5 March 2023, with his father's former club Dundalk. On 14 June 2025, his daughter Caoimhe was named Miss Ireland for 2026.