Happy in the States, Liam Kearney has no regrets about how Kerry career ended

'I can't believe it's 10 years ago,' says Kearney, speaking from New York where he moved 18 months ago and works with construction company Wesbuilt

GLORY DAYS: Kerry captain Liam Kearney celebrates with the Tom Markham cup. Picture credit: Ramsey Cardy / SPORTSFILE

Liam Kearney remembers getting a phone call from Peter Keane ahead of the 2019 season, the new manager’s first in charge of the Kingdom. It wasn’t a total surprise. The panel was getting a shake up and Kearney had heard from Spa clubmate Niall O’Mahony, an S&C coach in Keane’s backroom team, that they’d been keeping an eye on him.

The journey to that point had not been along a smooth road. He’d travelled the island looking for a solution to a foot injury which had kept him out of action for nearly two years. Despite all he’d done to get there, two-and-a-half years after Keane’s call, Kearney decided he’d had enough and left the Kerry panel.