Former Ireland boss Stephen Kenny has agreed to a five-year deal to join League of Ireland side St. Patrick's Athletic.
Kenny has not worked in football since his departure from the Ireland team, and he will now return to the league where he became an established name.
Ironically, it was the St. Pat's U-21s where Kenny began his managerial journey.
The Dublin native started his senior career with Longford Town and led them to promotion between 1998 and 2001. It was after this that his status grew and grew.
His time with Dundalk saw him win multiple League of Ireland titles and also saw Dundalk manage a historic Europa League group stage appearance. Kenny also managed Derry City and Shamrock Rovers and won numerous domestic cups.
In 2020, he became the Republic of Ireland national team manager, and his time there produced mixed results. He was eventually relieved of his duties last November.
Kenny, speaking about the announcement, claimed he was looking forward to getting started.
โ๐๐โ๐ ๐ฎ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฝ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ถ๐ป ๐บ๐ ๐น๐ถ๐ณ๐ฒ & ๐ฎ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฝ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐น๐๐ฏโ pic.twitter.com/DIIqLfHq8e
โ St Patrick's Athletic FC (@stpatsfc) May 16, 2024
"It's been a bit of a whirlwind; I'm looking forward to getting started. It's a new chapter in my life and a new chapter for the club, and I'll be giving it everything," said Kenny.
"(St. Pat's chairman) Garrett Kelleher has shared his vision for the club with me for a long time. He has plans for the stadium, to expand the club into America, European progression, and a lot of exciting plans, really.
"The reason I signed a longer contract is to build the club over a period of time, and I'm looking forward to driving it forward."
Kenny's time with Pats doesn't just extend to the touchline. His family also has connections to the Inchicore Club. He's now looking forward to the challenge ahead.
"My mother used to come to watch St. Pat's; she's from Inchicore and lived in Ballyfermot, so there's a good connection there.
"It's a big job ahead to rebuild and to drive the club on. It's such a busy time now with three games in a week, and we look forward to it."
Kenny's first game will be against his former club, Derry City, on Friday night.
