Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Daniel Anthony Kearns [1] | ||
Date of birth | [2] | 26 August 1991||
Place of birth | Belfast, Northern Ireland | ||
Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) [3] | ||
Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
Youth career | |||
2007–2010 | West Ham United | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2010–2011 | Dundalk | 37 | (4) |
2011–2014 | Peterborough United | 32 | (0) |
2012 | → York City (loan) | 9 | (0) |
2013 | → Rotherham United (loan) | 10 | (0) |
2014 | → Chesterfield (loan) | 10 | (0) |
2014–2015 | Carlisle United | 10 | (0) |
2015–2016 | Glenavon | 18 | (5) |
2016–2017 | Sligo Rovers | 35 | (2) |
2018 | Limerick | 13 | (1) |
2018–2021 | Linfield | 39 | (3) |
2021–2022 | Cliftonville | 42 | (2) |
2022–2024 | Larne | 30 | (0) |
International career | |||
2007–2008 | Northern Ireland U19 | 5 | (0) |
2010 | Republic of Ireland U19 | 2 | (0) |
2010 | Republic of Ireland U21 | 3 | (0) |
2010 | Republic of Ireland U23 | 1 | (0) |
2011 | League of Ireland XI | 1 | (0) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 1 October 2023 |
Daniel Anthony Kearns (born 26 August 1991) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder. Kearns joined Peterborough United from Dundalk in 2011 and had three separate loan spells with clubs across Northern England. He permanently joined Carlisle United after leaving Peterborough, and spent a year there before returning to Ireland, spending his later career at various clubs in the Irish Premiership and League of Ireland.
Born in Belfast, [4] Kearns began his grassroots career in the youth team of his local club St Oliver Plunkett. [5] He joined the youth team of English club West Ham United in July 2007, having been the player of the tournament at the Ballymena International Tournament in 2006. [6] He soon established himself in the under-18 team and went on to spend three years with the club from 2007 to 2010. [6] [7]
After being released by West Ham in May 2010, Kearns signed for Dundalk of the League of Ireland Premier Division in August on a short-term contract. [8] He made his debut in a 1–1 draw with University College Dublin, before going on to make 12 appearances in his first season. [3] Kearns scored his first competitive goals for Dundalk on 14 February 2011 with a hat-trick against Linfield in the Setanta Sports Cup. [3] Kearns played in Dundalk's seven matches in their run to the Setanta Sports Cup Final, where his team lost 2–0 to Shamrock Rovers. [3]
Kearns signed a three-year contract with English Championship club Peterborough United on 30 August 2011 for an undisclosed fee. [9] He made his debut for Peterborough on 24 September, in a 1–0 defeat against his former club, West Ham United, coming on as an 89th-minute substitute for Lee Frecklington. [10] He made his first start for Peterborough on 17 December in a 1–0 victory at home to Coventry City and was named man of the match, also playing a part in the buildup to the goal when laid the ball off to Paul Taylor, who assisted with Emile Sinclair's goal. [11] He finished his first season at Peterborough with 21 appearances. [10]
Kearns signed for League Two club York City on 4 October 2012 on a one-month loan, [12] making his debut two days later as a 66th-minute substitute in a 0–0 draw at home to Rotherham United. [13] On 1 November, the loan was extended for another two months. [14] However, he was recalled by Peterborough on 29 November, after making 12 appearances for York. [15] In January 2013, it was confirmed that Bradford City, along with Rotherham and York were interested in signing Kearns. [16] He signed for League Two club Rotherham on 9 January 2013 on loan until the end of the 2012–13 season, [17] making his debut on 13 January as a 51st-minute substitute in a 2–0 home defeat to Barnet. [13] He made 10 appearances for Rotherham as they finished the season as League Two runners-up, earning automatic promotion to League One. [13]
Kearns signed for League Two team Chesterfield on 11 March 2014 on a one-month loan [18] and made his debut that day as a 66th-minute substitute for Jimmy Ryan in a 1–1 draw away to AFC Wimbledon. [19] On 14 April 2014, his loan was extended until the end of the 2013–14 season. [20] He made 10 appearances as Chesterfield won the League Two title and thus promotion to League One. [19]
Kearns was released by Peterborough at the end of the 2013–14 season. [21]
He signed a two-year contract with newly relegated League Two club Carlisle United on 11 July 2014. [22] He left the club on 1 September 2015 after his contract was cancelled by mutual consent. [23]
Kearns signed for NIFL Premiership club Glenavon on 17 October 2015. [24] He was previously in the advanced stages of talks with another NIFL Premiership club Linfield after leaving Carlisle, [25] but Linfield were unable to complete the deal. It was against Linfield that Kearns would play his final game for the club, as a late substitute in the 2015–16 Irish Cup Final, which Glenavon won 2–0. [3]
Kearns signed an 18-month contract with League of Ireland Premier Division club Sligo Rovers on 5 July 2016. [26] He signed for League of Ireland Premier Division club Limerick on 29 November 2017 in preparation for the 2018 season. [27] He signed for NIFL Premiership club Linfield on 10 July 2018 on a two-year contract. [28]
In January 2021 Kearns signed for Cliftonville [29] and at the conclusion of his contract he signed for full timers Larne in June 2022 [30]
Kearns represented Northern Ireland in a series of UEFA European Under-17 Championship qualifiers in March 2008. However, in 2010 he switched allegiances to the Republic of Ireland, going on to represent them at under-19, [31] under-21 and under-23 levels. [32] [33] [34] The IFA contested the player's decision to switch national allegiances. [35] He was capped once by the League of Ireland XI, playing in their 5–0 defeat to Celtic at the Aviva Stadium on 31 July 2011. [36]
Club | Season | League | National Cup [lower-alpha 1] | League Cup [lower-alpha 2] | Other | Total | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Dundalk | 2010 [3] [8] | League of Ireland Premier Division | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 |
2011 [8] | League of Ireland Premier Division | 25 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 [lower-alpha 3] | 4 | 36 | 9 | |
Total | 37 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 4 | 49 | 9 | ||
Peterborough United | 2011–12 [10] | Championship | 20 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 21 | 0 | ||
2012–13 [13] | Championship | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | ||
2013–14 [19] | League One | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 [lower-alpha 4] | 0 | 15 | 0 | |
Total | 32 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 37 | 0 | ||
York City (loan) | 2012–13 [13] | League Two | 9 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 1 [lower-alpha 4] | 0 | 12 | 0 | |
Rotherham United (loan) | 2012–13 [13] | League Two | 10 | 0 | — | — | — | 10 | 0 | |||
Chesterfield (loan) | 2013–14 [19] | League Two | 10 | 0 | — | — | — | 10 | 0 | |||
Carlisle United | 2014–15 [37] | League Two | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 |
2015–16 [37] | League Two | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |||
Total | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | ||
Glenavon | 2015–16 [3] [38] | NIFL Premiership | 18 | 5 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 21 | 5 | ||
Sligo Rovers | 2016 [3] [39] | League of Ireland Premier Division | 14 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 15 | 2 | ||
2017 [3] [40] | League of Ireland Premier Division | 21 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 [lower-alpha 5] | 0 | 24 | 1 | |
Total | 35 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 39 | 3 | ||
Limerick | 2018 [3] | League of Ireland Premier Division | 13 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 13 | 1 | ||
Linfield | 2018–19 [3] [41] | NIFL Premiership | 13 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 13 | 3 | |
Dundalk
Rotherham United
Chesterfield
Glenavon
Linfield
Cliftonville
Larne
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