Derry City 'proud' of Stephen Kenny's elevation to Ireland senior manager

The Dubliner first took over the Derry City manager's post in 2005 and went on to win an FAI Cup and four League of Ireland Cups as well as guiding the Candy Stripes to the third qualifying round of the UEFA Cup.

A club statement read: "The Derry City Board wishes to congratulate Stephen Kenny on his appointment as manager of the Irish Soccer Team.

"Stephen managed Derry City on two separate occasions. The first was when he achieved promotion to the Premier Division at the first attempt.

"On another occasion he guided the club to its first advancement in European football in over 40 years, beating two times winners, Gothenburg in the preliminary round and Gretna in the second round. That resulted in two memorable games against Paris Saint- Germain.

"He oversaw the development of some of our best young players, providing them with the opportunity to play at a higher level. Seven Derry City players went on to represent their country when he was manager. Stephen managed Derry City on 112 occasions: 65 wins, 29 draws and only 18 defeats.

"Derry City played a major role in Stephen’s life and career and, in turn, he has played a major part in the history of our club. We are delighted with his elevation to the very summit of Irish football and proud that the new international manager was, on two occasions, the manager of Derry City,

"We wish Stephen and his team every success and he can be assured that he will always receive a very warm welcome at the Brandywell."

We've looked back at Kenny's greatest achievements as manager of Derry City. Check it out here

Message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper whenever you are able to do so.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper when you can safely.

Thank you