Player Profile: Johnny Kenny

The 5th week of voting is over, and you have voted Johnny Kenny and Harry McLoughlin as Sligo Rovers Greatest Wingers of All Time. First, we'll take a look at Johnny Kenny, a local winger who spent three great seasons with the club, playing a key role in the treble winning season.

Photo from homepage.eircom.net/~sligoroverssc/

Kenny played his junior football with Arrow Harps before being spotted by Galway United. He only spent a short time with the Tribesmen however before he joined Sligo Rovers in 1993.

His first season was certainly one to remember when he played a key role as the club went on to win the treble, scoring 12 goals. Finishing top in the First Division earning promotion, winning the First Division Shield, and of course beating Derry City 1-0 at Lansdowne Road to bring home the FAI Cup for the 2nd time.

Talking about the Cup win

The following season saw Rovers competing in the Premier Division and the Cup Winners' Cup. His most memorable moment came in the European competition as he equalized for Rovers against Club Brugge, who were a big club at the time, after going 1-0 down. Rovers went on to lose 2-1 and then lost 3-1 in the away leg and were perhaps unlucky not to have beaten an underperforming Brugge side in the Home leg.

The first night the Floodlights were put on The Showgrounds was also the occasion of another memorable goal for the winger according to everyone who attended the match as he picked up the ball on the half way line, making a surging run forward, leaving defenders for dead before slotting the boal under the advancing Home Farm goalkeeper.

Kenny joined Finn Harps in 1996 and went on to play for them for a number of years, and is currently still playing local football with Arrow Harps, the club where it all began for him!

In total Kenny scored a total of 21 goals for Sligo Rovers and is rightfully considered one of the Greatest footballers to ever play for The Bit O' Red.