Kearns was born in
Banbury,
Oxfordshire and is of Irish ancestry. He then joined
Oxford United, and scored in
Jim Smith's first game as manager. However he was only to spend one year at the
Manor Ground before his transfer to
Walsall, also of the Third Division, in 1982, where he joined his older brother
Mick. Again, he was to spend only one year at
Fellows Park before dropping down a division to play for
Hereford United. Kearns arrived at Hereford United in 1983 aged 27 and spent four and a half years at
Edgar Street, where he was top goalscorer two seasons running, in 1985–86 and 1986–87. Kearns then moved to
Wrexham. He finished his
Football League career with the Welsh club – a career that saw him score 127 goals in 358 appearances. Kearns then moved into
non-League football: first, briefly, with
Kettering Town. He then played for
Rushden Town and
Worcester City before joining the newly formed
Rushden & Diamonds. On 22 August 1992, he scored the first league goal in the club's history, against
Bilston Town in the
Southern League Midland Division. In all, he made 36 appearances for the club, 26 League, 1 FA Cup, 2 FA Vase, 4 League Cup and 3 Hillier Senior Cup. He joined
Racing Club Warwick for a final season before retiring at the age of 37. Kearns later worked in property development in the Banbury area. ==Personal life==