Joe Kiernan

Joe Kiernan (October 22, 1942 – August 6, 2006) was a Scottish professional footballer who represented Northampton Town in 352 matches. He might be seen on the left side of defense or in the middle of the field.

Career

Kiernan joined Sunderland as an apprentice in 1958 and made two appearances for the first team, scoring twice against Oldham Athletic in a League Cup match. In 1963, he moved to Northampton Town for a fee of £2,000. When the team was promoted to Division One, he was one of the most important players on the books. However, the Cobblers were demoted, and he was on the point of becoming a Scottish international. He had two cartilage surgery during the 1966-67 season. In Division One, Kiernan made 42 appearances. In 1972, he was released prematurely and joined Kettering Town, where he captained them to the Southern League Division One North Championship under Ron Atkinson. Later in his career, he began coaching with Irthlingborough Diamonds before taking over the Cobblers young squad from Graham Carr in 1986. When Theo Foley took over as manager in 1990, he made Kiernan his number two, but the club went into administration, and Kiernan went back to his previous job as a painter and decorator. With 308 league appearances, Kiernan ranks fifth on Northampton's all-time appearance list (352 from all appearances, with 14 goals) In August of 2006, he passed away.