Kerr no stranger to success

New Republic of Ireland boss Brian Kerr is no stranger to success, with a remarkable record in charge of national under-age teams since his appointment by the Football Association of Ireland six years ago.

One of the highlights was the 2-1 victory over Italy in the European Under-16 Championship final in Perth, Scotland in 1998.

The same year his under-18 team won another European title when beating Germany in the final in Cyprus.

Ireland won 4-3 in a penalty shoot-out after the teams had finished level at 1-1 after extra time.

The 49-year-old Dubliner was also a winner when his side triumphed in the Portuguese Under-16 tournament in April 1998 and the under-18 team won the Nordic Cup in Iceland the same year.

That was followed by victory in the Youth Olympics in Spain in 2001 and last week his under-20 side won the four-nation tournament in Abu Dhabi against host nation United Arab Emirates, South Korea and France.

Already, that under-20 side have qualified for the World Cup finals in the UAE this April.

The Republic have competed in two previous World Cup finals at this level, finishing third in Malaysia in 1997 when beating Ghana 2-1 in a play-off and then reaching the last 16 in Nigeria in 1999.

Kerr’s team had to be satisfied with third place in the European Under-18 finals in Sweden later in 1999, beating Greece 1-0 in the third-place play-off.

Now the popular Dubliner rises to a higher level, taking charge of the senior team for the first time in the friendly with Berti Vogts’ Scotland at Hampden Park on February 12.

By his own admission, Kerr never rose to the heights as a player with Leinster Senior League side Bluebell United, although he does have an FAI Junior Cup winners’ medal.

Yet his ability as an astute reader of the game and management skills ensured that at an age when others were still playing, he was already eyeing a career in management.

He first became involved with the Republic in 1983 as assistant to Liam Tuohy, the former Newcastle United and Shamrock Rovers winger, who was then in charge of the national youth team.

Tuohy was a former manager of the Ireland senior team and was responsible for providing his young assistant with an insight into the different priorities of the game at international level.

Alongside Tuohy, Kerr went to the old Soviet Union for the finals of the European Championship the following year only to see the Irish side finish fourth, losing 2-1 to Poland in the play-offs.

That was good enough to qualify the Irish for the World Youth finals – also in the Soviet Union in 1985.

Among the players in that squad was Niall Quinn, then a promising youngster at Arsenal and later to become the Republic’s top scorer of all time with 21 international goals until his retirement last year after the World Cup finals in Japan and South Korea.

Kerr then turned his attention to League of Ireland football and after a brief apprenticeship was appointed manager of Dublin club St Patrick’s Athletic, then perceived as one of the weaker teams in senior football.

But Kerr built St Pat’s into the country’s most successful club, winning the Premier Division title in 1990 and repeating that success six years later.

Then came the call to return to the international under-age scene and now the biggest challenge of all as successor to Mick McCarthy with the senior team.

The Dubliner may find many young acquaintances in the dressing room.

Kerr gave a first international start to the likes of Robbie Keane (Tottenham), Damien Duff (Blackburn), John O’Shea (Manchester United), Gary Doherty (Tottenham), Colin Healy (Celtic), Stephen McPhail (Leeds), Richie Partridge (Coventry), Richard Dunne (Manchester City), Joe Murphy (West Brom), Alan Quinn (Sheffield Wednesday) and Barry Quinn (Coventry).