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Aidan Keena

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Aidan Keena
Personal information
Full name Aidan Keena
Date of birth (1999-04-25) 25 April 1999 (age 25)
Place of birth Mullingar, Ireland
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 St Patrick's Athletic
Number 18
Youth career
Mullingar Athletic
2015 Shelbourne
2016–2017 St Patrick's Athletic
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2017 St Patrick's Athletic 3 (0)
2017–2020 Heart of Midlothian 11 (0)
2018 → Queen's Park (loan) 14 (8)
2018–2019 → Dunfermline Athletic (loan) 12 (4)
2020 Hartlepool United 8 (2)
2020–2022 Falkirk 32 (6)
2022–2023 Sligo Rovers 32 (18)
2023–2024 Cheltenham Town 60 (7)
2024– St Patrick's Athletic 11 (5)
International career‡
2015 Republic of Ireland U17 2 (0)
2016–2017 Republic of Ireland U18 4 (0)
2018 Republic of Ireland U19 1 (0)
2019 Republic of Ireland U21 2 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 13:15, 2 November 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 19 November 2019

Aidan Keena (born 25 April 1999) is an Irish footballer who plays as a forward for League of Ireland Premier Division club St Patrick's Athletic. He has previously played for Heart of Midlothian, Hartlepool United, Queen's Park, Dunfermline Athletic, Falkirk, Sligo Rovers and Cheltenham Town.

Club career

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St Patrick's Athletic

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Keena, a member of the St Patrick's Athletic under 19's squad, was called up to the first team by manager Liam Buckley for pre-season in January 2017 despite being just 17 years old. He scored on his first team debut, in a 5–0 win over Bluebell United in a friendly.[1] Keena made his first official appearance in senior football on 24 February 2017 when he came on as a 67th-minute substitute in the Saints opening game of the season against Bray Wanderers. With Pats trailing 2–0, Kenna set up Graham Kelly for an 85th-minute goal before being shown a straight red card in the 91st minute for a late tackle on Dylan Connolly.[2] Keena went on to make four more appearances for the club (two league and two League Cup) in the 2017 season, with the last of those being a Dublin Derby against Bohemians on 16 June 2017.

Heart of Midlothian

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Keena was signed by Heart of Midlothian in August 2017.[3] After impressing first team staff with his goalscoring form for the reserves, he was called up to the first team and made his debut as a late substitute in a 1–1 draw versus Partick Thistle at Tynecastle Park on 19 November 2017. Keena was loaned to Scottish League One club Queen's Park in January 2018.[4] In August 2018, he joined Dunfermline Athletic in the Scottish Championship on a season-long loan.[5]

After a promising few months with Dunfermline, Keena was recalled to Hearts in January, scoring his first goal for the club in a 4–0 victory against Auchinleck Talbot in the Scottish Cup.[6]

Hartlepool United

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Keena left Hearts in January 2020 and signed for Hartlepool United. Prior to this, Keena had unsuccessful trials with Darlington and Berwick Rangers.[7]

He scored his first goal for the club in a 2–0 win against Stockport County on 25 January 2020.[8]

Falkirk

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After leaving Hartlepool, Keena returned to Scotland and signed a two-year deal with Scottish League One side Falkirk on 5 August 2020.[9] On 24 January 2022, it was announced that Keena had left Falkirk by mutual consent after 8 goals in 38 appearances for the club.[10]

Sligo Rovers

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On 24 January 2022, Keena signed for League of Ireland Premier Division club Sligo Rovers and quickly established himself.[11] Keena made his debut on 25 February 2022, scoring the winner in a 2–1 victory away to his first senior club St Patrick's Athletic.[12] On 14 March 2022, he scored a hat-trick in a 3–1 win over Finn Harps at The Showgrounds.[13] Keena was named League of Ireland Player of the Month for March 2022, following a great start to life at his new club, scoring 5 goals in his first 6 appearances.[14] He scored a brace in a 3–1 win at home to Shelbourne on 2 July 2022, his 10th and 11th goals of the season, to return to the top of the goal scoring charts in the league.[15] On 7 July 2022, he scored on his debut in European football, scoring the equaliser in a 2–1 win away to Welsh side Bala Town in the UEFA Europa Conference League.[16][17] On 21 July 2022, Keena scored the winning goal in a 1–0 victory away to Motherwell in the UEFA Europa Conference League.[18] He was named League of Ireland Player of the Month for July 2022, his second time winning the award.[19] Keena finished the 2022 season as League of Ireland Premier Division top goalscorer with 18 goals. He ended the 2022 season with 21 goals in all competitions, two in the UEFA Conference League, one in the FAI Cup and eighteen in the league. He played a huge role in the attack for Rovers that year, also contributing 5 assists. Despite finishing as the top goalscorer and with 2 Player of the Month awards, he was not nominated for PFAI Players' Player of the Year.[20]

Cheltenham Town

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On 29 January 2023, Keena signed for Cheltenham Town for an undisclosed fee,[21] reported as surpassing the club's previous record transfer of £50,000.[22]

Return to St Patrick's Athletic

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On 28 July 2024, Keena returned to his first senior club, St Patrick's Athletic.[23][24] He made his debut on 4 August 2024, scoring a penalty in a 3–2 win over his former club Sligo Rovers.[25] On 21 September 2024, Keena came off the bench to score the third goal of the game in a 3–0 win over Waterford.[26] On 18 October 2024, he scored both his sides goals in a 2–1 win over Galway United.[27] On 1 November 2024, Keena opened the scoring in 2–0 win over Sligo Rovers as his side won a record equaling 9 league games in a row to secure 3rd position in the table and UEFA Conference League football for the following season.[28]

International career

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Keena has represented the Republic of Ireland at Under-17, Under-18 and Under-19 level.[29][30][31] On 6 November 2019, Keena was announced in Stephen Kenny's Republic of Ireland U21 side for the first time, for their European Under-21 Championship qualification games against Armenia U21 & Sweden U21.[32]

Career statistics

[edit]
As of match played 1 November 2024[33][34]
Season Club League National Cup[a] League Cup[b] Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
St Patrick's Athletic 2017[33] LOI Premier Division 3 0 0 0 2 0 — 0[c] 0 5 0
Heart of Midlothian 2017–18[35] Scottish Premiership 1 0 0 0 0 0 — — 1 0
2018–19[36] 5 0 2 1 1 0 — 1[d] 1 9 2
2019–20[37] 5 0 0 0 4 0 — 3[d] 3 12 3
Total 11 0 2 1 5 0 — 4 4 22 5
Queen's Park (loan) 2017–18[35] Scottish League One 14 8 — — — 2[e] 0 16 8
Dunfermline Athletic (loan) 2018–19[36] Scottish Championship 12 4 — — — 0[f] 0 12 4
Hartlepool United 2019–20[33] National League 8 2 — — — — 8 2
Falkirk 2020–21[33] Scottish League One 11 1 1 0 2 1 — — 14 2
2021–22[33] 21 5 1 0 1 0 — 1[f] 1 24 6
Total 32 6 2 0 3 1 — 1 1 38 8
Sligo Rovers 2022[33] LOI Premier Division 32 18 1 1 — 5[g] 2 — 38 21
Cheltenham Town 2022–23[33] EFL League One 19 6 — — — 1[h] 0 20 6
2023–24[33] 41 1 1 0 1 0 — 3[h] 0 46 1
Total 60 7 1 0 1 0 — 4 0 66 7
St Patrick's Athletic 2024[33] LOI Premier Division 11 5 — — 4[i] 0 0[c] 0 15 5
2025[33] 0 0 0 0 — 0[i] 0 0[c] 0 0 0
Total 11 5 0 0 — 4 0 0 0 15 5
Career total 183 50 6 2 11 1 9 2 11 5 220 60
  1. ^ Includes FAI Cup, Scottish Cup & FA Cup
  2. ^ Includes League of Ireland Cup, Scottish League Cup & EFL Cup
  3. ^ a b c Appearances in Leinster Senior Cup
  4. ^ a b Appearances for Hearts under-21s in Scottish Challenge Cup in which age-restricted sides from the Scottish Premiership clubs compete against senior clubs
  5. ^ Appearances in Scottish League One play-offs
  6. ^ a b Appearances in Scottish Challenge Cup
  7. ^ Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League
  8. ^ a b Appearances in EFL Trophy
  9. ^ a b Appearances in the UEFA Conference League

Honours

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Club

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St Patrick's Athletic

Individual

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References

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  1. ^ "Extratime.ie - Live Updates - Friendly - Bluebell United -v- St. Patrick's Athletic". Extratime.ie.
  2. ^ "League Report: St Patrick's Athletic 1 - 2 Bray Wanderers".
  3. ^ "Youngster Keena joins Hearts Heart of Midlothian - News". Heartsfc.co.uk. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
  4. ^ "New faces give squad a boost". Queen's Park FC. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
  5. ^ "Dunfermline sign Robbie Muirhead, Malaury Martin & Aidan Keena". BBC Sport. 31 August 2018. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  6. ^ "Hearts 4 – 0 Auchinleck Talbot". BBC Sport. 10 February 2019. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  7. ^ "Aidan Keena: Striker moves from Hearts to Hartlepool Utd". BBC Sport. 10 January 2020. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  8. ^ "Hartlepool United 2-0 Stockport County". BBC Sport. 25 January 2020. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  9. ^ "Aidan Keena Signs from Hartlepool United". Falkirk FC. 5 August 2020. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  10. ^ "KEENA DEPARTS FOLLOWING MUTUAL CONTRACT TERMINATION". Falkirk Football Club. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  11. ^ O'Hehir, Paul (24 January 2022). "Sligo Rovers sign striker Aidan Keena from Falkirk". Irish Mirror.
  12. ^ Goulden, David (25 February 2022). "Former Saint Keena haunts old club on Sligo debut" – via www.rte.ie.
  13. ^ "Aidan Keena the hat-trick hero for Sligo Rovers". independent.
  14. ^ a b Team, The42. "Sligo Rovers striker Aidan Keena earns Player of the Month award". The42.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  15. ^ Goulden, David (2 July 2022). "Keena bags brace in Sligo Rovers win over Shelbourne" – via www.rte.ie.
  16. ^ Maloney, Liam (7 July 2022). "Red-hot Keena helps Sligo turn things around in Wales for crucial first-leg victory". Irish Examiner.
  17. ^ "TheJournal.ie - Sligo come from behind in Wales to record 2-1 win against Bala Town". www.the42.ie.
  18. ^ "Aidan Keena's lob earns Sligo Rovers a brilliant win away to Motherwell". The Irish Times.
  19. ^ "TheJournal.ie - LOI's top goalscorer claims Player of the Month award for July". www.the42.ie.
  20. ^ "Surprise among Sligo Rovers fans as Aidan Keena not nominated for player of the year". 10 November 2022.
  21. ^ "Cheltenham sign striker Keena from Sligo Rovers". BBC Sport. 29 January 2023. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
  22. ^ Palmer, Jon (29 January 2023). "Cheltenham Town pay club record fee for Sligo Rovers striker Aidan Keena". Gloucestershire Live. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
  23. ^ "Aidan Keena Signs For The Saints". www.stpatsfc.com.
  24. ^ "St Pat's land striker Keena, Keating returns to Cork". 28 July 2024 – via www.rte.ie.
  25. ^ "Brandon Kavanagh scores late winner as St Pat's come from behind to sink Sligo". Irish Independent. 4 August 2024.
  26. ^ "Keena heaps praise on St Pat's teen sensation Mason Melia after goal in Waterford win". Irish Independent. 21 September 2024.
  27. ^ Buttner, Paul (18 October 2024). "Keena's double extends St Pat's late season surge" – via www.rte.ie.
  28. ^ Goulden, David (1 November 2024). "Ninth win in a row for St Pat's as they see off Sligo Rovers". Irish Examiner.
  29. ^ "Aidan Keena". Uefa.com. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
  30. ^ "St Patrick's Athletic FC". Facebook.com. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
  31. ^ "Congrats to Aidan Keena on being called up to the Ireland under 18 squad for their upcoming friendlies #InternationalSaints". Twitter.com. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
  32. ^ "Kenny names weakened squad for crucial Euro qualifiers". RTÉ.ie. 6 November 2019.
  33. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Republic of Ireland – A.Keena". Soccerway. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  34. ^ "Aidan Keena | Football Stats | Falkirk | Age 22 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com.
  35. ^ a b "Games played by Aidan Keena in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  36. ^ a b "Games played by Aidan Keena in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  37. ^ "Games played by Aidan Keena in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
  38. ^ "TheJournal.ie - LOI's top goalscorer claims Player of the Month award for July".
  39. ^ "Summary - Premier Division - Republic of Ireland - Results, fixtures, tables and news - Soccerway". ie.soccerway.com.
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