Shamrock Rovers Harry 'H' Kenny joined his boyhood club
Shamrock Rovers in September 1978, one year after
Johnny Giles had been appointed
player/manager. Kenny was a number of full-time players who Giles signed up as part of the policy to develop a full-time professional set up at
Milltown. Other players brought in were
Pierce O'Leary,
Alan Campbell and
Ritchie Bayly. Kenny made his Rovers debut at 16 on 20 December 1978 in a
Leinster Senior Cup quarter final win against Dunleary Celtic at
Tolka Park. His league debut came on 3 April 1979 in a 4–0 win against
Cork Celtic at Milltown. He scored his first goal for the Hoops on 3 December 1980 in a Leinster Senior Cup semi final loss to
UCD. Kenny became a regular in the first team until breaking his leg against
Sligo Rovers in a league game at Milltown on 11 October 1981.
Peter Eccles would take Kenny's place for the much of the 1981-82 season. In his second full season at Milltown, H won the
1980-81 Shamrock Rovers Player of the Year Award. In 1982 Harry spent 6 months at
Vancouver Whitecaps. In April 1983 he played for the
League of Ireland XI U21s against their Italian League counterparts who included
Roberto Mancini and
Gianluca Vialli in their team. In the 1983-84 season Kenny made only 5 appearances during
Jim McLaughlin's first season in charge, missing out on a league winners medal. Although he had played well in pre-season friendlies Kenny stalled renewing his contract causing McLaughlin to pick
Anto Whelan in favour of Kenny. In the 1984-85 season Kenny won 2 league medals as Kenny had made enough appearances to claim medals for both Shamrock Rovers first and second team teams who had both won their league titles. To add to that he won two more league medals and three
FAI Cup's as Rovers continued to dominate the league right through to 1986-87. In addition to schoolboy and youth international honours Harry has also played for the
League of Ireland XI in 7 Olympics qualifiers. At
Dalymount Park on 19 January 1986 Kenny received a red card after 4 minutes after a brief altercation with
Tom Conway. Kenny scored the first goal from the penalty spot in a 3-0 win against Dundalk the 1987 FAI Cup Final winning Shamrock Rovers their third league and cup double in a row. In 1988, after spending 10 years at the club, Kenny had a testimonial luncheon at Stewart's hospital. Members of Ireland's
UEFA Euro 1988 squad which included ex-teammate
Liam O'Brien attended with manager
Jack Charlton being the guest of honor. Harry's final appearance was at the
RDS against
Dundalk on 15 April 1991. It was his 300th competitive appearance in the green and white.
Drogheda United and later career In 1991, despite being shortlisted to fill in the managerial vacancy at
Kilkenny City, Kenny joined
Drogheda United for £4,000. Due to financial problems at the club, Drogheda were unable to submit the full payments were subsequently handed a point deduction. His first game against Rovers resulted in a win and the subsequent sacking of
Noel King. In Kenny's two seasons at Drogheda they managed to survive relegation. At the end of the 1992-93 season Kenny was released by Drogheda. At the 2007 Shamrock Rovers Player of the Year Awards Harry Kenny was the Hall of Fame recipient. == International Career ==