Jeff Kenna is among an elite of an exclusive group of Irish footballers. Although arguably not as well known as Denis Irwin, Roy Keane, John O'Shea or Damien Duff, Kenna is one of only five Republic of Ireland internationals to have lifted the Premiership trophy.

After being lured across the water by Southampton's youth team, Jeff Kenna went on to have a successful 20-year career in English football. He was a regular at Southampton until Kenny Dalgliesh brought the defender to Blackburn Rovers for the second half of their championship winning campaign in 1995.

"I always knew I wanted to play football. I remember my dad and my grandad being involved with the local club. I was never pushed into it or anything, but I always seemed to have a football with me. "I went over to a tournament in England with Palmerstown Rangers when I was 12, which Southampton won. I ended up staying over there for two weeks, training with the Southampton youth team and thinking I was well able for these lads."

Stints with Birmingham City, Derby County and Kidderminster Harriers followed after Blackburn and he was capped 29 times as a full back for Ireland between 1995 and 1999. Then, last month, came the call he had been waiting for.

"I'd been applying for coaching and managerial positions for about 12 to 18 months without success, then the Galway job came up and I threw my hat into the ring," he says.

Despite Galway United's disappointing position at the foot of the Eircom League table, Kenna had no hesitation in accepting the manager's position. "It's an absolutely fantastic opportunity and the natural progression for me as a player. It's a very well run club here and I feel it's a great chance for me to develop," he says.

After the departure of Tony Cousins, Galway United decided they needed a completely clean slate and offered Kenna his very first managerial role. "I was playing for Kidderminster the week I arrived in Galway, so it really was a case of player one week, manager the next. I haven't had a chance to miss the playing side of things but maybe come pre-season I will."

Despite the contagious sense of enthusiasm in Kenna's voice, he is realistic about Galway's current position and, when asked of his hopes for the season, he is straight to the point, saying fourth from bottom would suit him fine.

"Obviously, we're a bit adrift at the bottom of the table and we need to be doing better than them to just catch up. We've had a couple of decent results lately but we need to be picking up the wins."

Unsurprisingly, Kenna holds his time with Blackburn as one of the highlights of his career, alongside his international caps for Ireland, winning promotion to the Premiership with Birmingham City, and the honour of appearing at the new Wembley for Kidderminster.

Keeping Galway in the Eircom Premier League this season though, would rank right up there. "For me, particularly with such limited experience, it would be just fantastic. We're still confident we can do it. It's coming up to month since I arrived and the lads seem to be taking on board what I'm saying so it's great. We've also got lads coming back from injury at the prefect time, so it's all about getting a run together now."

If Jeff Kenna's attitude is anything to go by, Galway will leave nothing behind them in what is undoubtedly an extremely tough battle ahead.

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