Recalling the early onset of a fascination that never wavered, Kieran McKenna smiles. He recalls as a youngster from County Fermanagh, “I was the eight-year-old sitting up watching a League Two game in the spare room while the rest of the family had the TV on elsewhere,” soaking in every detail that was available. “I watched every minute of football, day and night, even though I know a lot of kids are crazy about the game.”
Despite the fact that McKenna may now have less opportunity to focus on the lower divisions, not much has changed in nearly thirty years. That is hardly the whole tale, though, since he has brought Ipswich out of the doldrums by gaining promotion from League One in his first full season.
They won only four games, scored 101 goals, and thrived with a sophisticated, dominating style of football that was almost unheard of in the third division. Ipswich had been put out of its misery by more seasoned leaders, but McKenna—who turns 37 on Sunday—arrived with a plan in December 2021 and carried it out flawlessly. It is difficult to find a more dynamic young manager in the nation.
Sitting in his office at the training facility of the Suffolk club, he states, “There’s massive potential when you have a club of this size and history, the only one in a big county.” “It’s a great place to be, and we’ve had really powerful momentum and incredible support.” We are aware that there is more work ahead, but we are grateful for the opportunity to be in this position and to continue moving forward.
Gamechanger 20 supports Ipswich and is open about wanting to bring the team back to its illustrious history. When the US-led consortium appointed McKenna, a rising talent who had not yet established himself as a first-team coach at Manchester United, they were clearly taking a chance, but they were rewarded with an incredible display of self-belief.
McKenna’s strategy was to play from behind and overtake Ipswich, relying on their strength over opponents who typically used blunter instruments in terms of technique and structure. It required persuading skeptics and giving little thought to those who doubted. “I’m not sure if it’ll be possible,” or “That’s going to be very difficult,” is how he describes the several conversations he had with football players.
“I also had them speak with one or two of the players from last season, and they expressed their belief that it would be challenging to advance from League One by employing a daring style of football that involves opening up the pitch, playing with the ball on the ground, attempting to keep it in play, constructing from the back, and trying to create space.
“There was undoubtedly a narrative stating that it was not the solution for overcoming the division. It required a great deal of conviction on the part of the players to buy into it, the club’s support, and our own views. That, in my opinion, adds to the accomplishment’s satisfaction because it wasn’t simple.
McKenna took over a team that included both high-paid newcomers and veterans who had seen other strategies fail. However, he took them with him, convincing them to “not over-obsess about results” and have faith that their efforts will be rewarded.
They outperformed their rivals on the majority of criteria and hit their peak in the last third of the season, matching up with Plymouth, the champions: In their last 15 games, Ipswich has won 13, drawn two, and scored 45 goals while giving up four. They have never conceded a goal due to poor defensive passing under McKenna. He explains, “That’s something we did take pride in.”
McKenna seen his family produce an award-winning production while still a football-obsessed child. His mother was a nurse and his father was a car mechanic in London. Together, they bought the Manor House Country hotel, which is situated north of Enniskillen by Lough Erne, and developed it into one of Ireland’s top venues. He claims, “It definitely influenced me to see the work and hours and the passion they put into it, as well as how they managed people.”
“My dad lived in the hotel in much the same way that I live at this football club, according to some people. When my grandfather would visit from his vacation in London, he would quickly climb a scaffold to paint the hotel’s roof or mend broken tiles. It was the entire family’s life’s labor.
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