Former Derry City striker Mikhail Kennedy retires

Former Derry City loanee Mikhail Kennedy confirmed at the weekend that he has been forced to retire from the game after a battle with serious injury.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

Still just 23, the Shantallow man had a spell with the Candystripes during their tenancy at Maginn Park in 2017 before heading back to his parent club, Charlton Athletic.

And it was shortly after returning to south east London that things turned sour for the attacking midfielder.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Having made the first team squad at The Valley he ruptured his ACL in training and following two operations he was out of the game for nearly 18 months.

Mikhail Kennedy tussles with defender St Patrick's Athletic Gavin Peers during his loan spell with Derry City in 2017.Mikhail Kennedy tussles with defender St Patrick's Athletic Gavin Peers during his loan spell with Derry City in 2017.
Mikhail Kennedy tussles with defender St Patrick's Athletic Gavin Peers during his loan spell with Derry City in 2017.

Mikhail returned home at the start of 2019 having been released by Charlton after five years at the club. He trained for a while with Declan Devine's squad before switching to Institute, and ironically it now looks like a Brandywell game between the North West club was to be his last professional match.

Only on the field a matter of minutes he went down with what proved to be a recurrence of the ACL injury and that was to be that.

"It's a year to the day since that last match," he stated.

'This week, after listening to medical advice and having lots of conversations, I've realised that I have to accept the situation and also listen to what my body is telling me.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"I have worked so hard to try to get back to some level of playing, but I have to be realistic at this point.

"Knowing that I won't be back in a changing room getting ready to run out into a stadium to play is heartbreaking."

The former Northern Ireland under-21 International now has to decide his next move.

"I'm considering going to University once that starts back again but if the opportunity of a job came up then that would change the plan. I'm not one for sitting around to be honest so I pretty much need to be looking at my future from now!"

No doubt anyone who knows Mikhail will wish him all the best for the next chapter.

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.