Kieran McKenna is urging Northern Ireland’s Under-19 class of 2024 to relish the challenge of the U19 Euros.
This year’s UEFA Men’s European Under-19 Championship kicks off tomorrow and is being hosted in Northern Ireland by the Irish Football Association in conjunction with European football’s governing body.
Ipswich Town manager McKenna captained Northern Ireland’s U19 team when the country last hosted the U19 version of the Euros in 2005.
Just like this year, seven teams qualified to reach the finals and Northern Ireland qualified as hosts.
“First and foremost I would say to the players to go and enjoy it,” said McKenna, who is currently preparing his newly promoted team for life in England’s Premier League.
“They should see it as a potential springboard to have long and successful playing careers and to represent Northern Ireland at senior level. It will be fantastic to be part of it.
“They should also treat it as a once in a lifetime opportunity and I would urge them to relish the challenge of the games, and to be as competitive as possible.”
McKenna, who was born in London but raised in Fermanagh, was a midfielder with Tottenham Hotspur back in 2005 and would also go on to captain his country at U21 level.
Injury robbed him of a senior cap and a long career as a full-time professional footballer, but he has great memories of playing in a major European tournament on home soil.
“It was great to be a part of it. It was a fantastic experience. I remember the build-up and the tournament itself well. I have strong memories of it,” he said.
Northern Ireland’s opponents in Group A in this year’s tournament are holders Italy, Norway and Ukraine.
Back in 2005 McKenna and his team-mates took on Greece, Yugoslavia (now seven separate countries) and West Germany (now Germany after uniting with East Germany).
They narrowly lost 1-0 against the Greeks in their opening game at Windsor Park before losing by the same scoreline to Yugoslavia at Newry Showgrounds. McKenna even grazed the top of the bar with a thunderbolt before Yugoslavia grabbed the winner.
And in their final group game, played at the Oval in Belfast, they were narrowly defeated 2-1 by the Germans.
He pointed out: “I thought we gave a good account of ourselves in the games. When you play top teams the margins are small and mistakes get punished.
“All three games were tight. We created more chances than the Greeks but they popped up with the big moment. The second game was a similar story.
“I think we performed best in the third game. We went toe-to-toe with a highly rated German team.”
McKenna (38) retired from playing at the age of just 22 due to a persistent hip injury. After hanging up his boots he turned to coaching. He studied sports science at Loughborough University and while studying for his degree he had stints as a youth coach at Tottenham Hotspur, Leicester City, Nottingham Forest and Canadian side Vancouver Whitecaps.
Upon graduating he became head of academy performance analysis at Spurs. He coached various age groups at the north London club before being appointed U18s boss in 2015.
The following year he joined Manchester United as U18s manager. In 2018 he moved into the senior set-up at Old Trafford, becoming assistant manager to Jose Mourinho. He was also subsequently assistant to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and briefly to Ralf Rangnick.
He left Manchester United in December 2021 after being appointed manager of then EFL League One side Ipswich.
In his first season at Portman Road the team finished 11th in League One, however the following season (2022-23) he guided Ipswich to second place in the league to gain automatic promotion to the EFL Championship.
And last season he won back-to-back promotions, guiding Ipswich to second place in the Championship and automatic promotion to the Premier League.
He may be in the big league now, but he fondly remembers his days playing youth football in Fermanagh with Enniskillen Town United and Ballinamallard United – and playing for his country at U19 and U21 level.
In particular he remembers playing at the U19 Euros. A future team-mate at Spurs, Kevin-Prince Boateng, also enjoyed the event, McKenna revealed. Boateng, who was in the West Germany team in 2005, would later go on to represent Ghana at senior level.
The Ipswich boss added: “There were good crowds at the games and the players got good exposure. There was a big media interest and that media exposure provided good preparation for the future. I learnt a lot from it. It was a very prestigious event.”
In the 2005 final, which was played at Windsor Park, France proved too strong for England and ran out 3-1 winners.
France are also in the 2024 tournament along with Spain, Denmark, Turkiye, Italy, Norway, Ukraine and Northern Ireland.
Northern Ireland’s first game in this year’s tournament is against Ukraine at Larne’s Inver Park tomorrow (Monday 15 July) with a 7pm kick-off. And Italy play Norway at Seaview Stadium in Belfast tomorrow (3.30pm).
Next up for Northern Ireland are Italy at Inver Park on Thursday (18 July), again the game has a 7pm kick-off, and former Ipswich player Gareth McAuley’s U19s will round off their group games against Norway at Seaview next Sunday (21 July) at 7pm.
To buy tickets to U19 Euros matches go to irishfa.com/u19euro.
Image: Kieran McKenna in action for Northern Ireland at the U19 Euros in 2005.
