Championship ace appreciating 'every game and goal' after fighting back from injuries and retirement

Kennedy sustained an ACL injury while playing for The Valley outfit, who he made two league appearances for after progressing through the club’s academy, and suffered a recurrence of the same issue in 2019.

After a year out of action, Kennedy announced his retirement, but the 27-year-old returned in fine fashion with Championship team Dergview 18 months later, scoring 17 league goals last season to earn a summer move to top-flight Crusaders.

He only made seven Premiership appearances for the Seaview club before joining Kevin Deery’s title-chasing Institute earlier this month and picked up where he left off by netting on league debut.

"Going through what I've been through isn't easy and you just appreciate every game, training session and goal because I know how easy it can be taken away from you,” he said. “I was out for 15 months and got back playing in England and came home and got injured again.

"You kind of lose everything and for me I lost my identity. I was no longer a footballer and it was then trying to move on to do different things which was really tough. Mentally it's the toughest thing because there's nothing you can really do.

"You do your gym work but it's very time consuming and there's always that risk that when you do come back that you'll have serious implications in the future. That's always on your mind as well.

"I don't regret getting injured. If I didn't, I'd maybe still be playing in England, but it is what it is and I've had to humble myself to come back home and play in the Championship.

"The talent in Northern Ireland has taken off and there's a lot of lads who have played in England back here. Being able to get back to play at a high level in this country is some achievement for me."

Time spent away from the pitch has also opened Kennedy’s eyes to other ventures with the ex-Northern Ireland youth international now commentating on matches involving former club Derry City while he’s also in the process of collecting his coaching badges.

Kennedy will return to education in September to complete his counselling degree – a journey started while at Charlton – and says life experience has taught him that playing football “doesn’t last forever”.

"It's a different game from the stands!” he laughs about his commentator role. “I didn't know if it would be for me but I went for the night and it was a boring 0-0 game and then I really didn't know if it was for me! I loved it and loved working with the people (at Drive105 and League of Ireland TV).

"I've done some of my coaching badges recently and I'm looking to further that this year. I'm working full-time which keeps me occupied, but I want to stay in football by playing for the next number of years and then moving into coaching or media.

"I remember when I got injured, Jason Pearce, who was captain of Charlton at the time, told me to go and study something. I took his advice and I started studying counselling. I'm almost qualified now.

"Experiencing that football doesn’t last forever at a young age was tough, but it gave me some insight into preparing for life after it.”