Kieran McKenna stands down as Ipswich Town manager - 'Never a good time to say goodbye'

McKenna enjoyed an impressive spell with The Tractor Boys, joining them in League One in December 2021 before guiding them to the Championship during the 2022/23 campaign.

He subsequently secured back-to-back promotions as Ipswich returned to the Premier League for the first time since 2002 the following season.

The club were relegated the following year, but he remained at the helm despite links to several Premier League sides, securing another promotion last term after helping his team finish second in the Championship table.

McKenna has been linked with the Fulham job for a number of weeks following the departure of Marco Silva, but he has released a statement emphasising that he will now take a break from management to spend time with his family.

”It is with a mixture of gratitude, pride, sadness and contentment that I have decided to step down from the honour of managing this historic football club,” he said.

”When you have the connection that we have built at this club there is never a good time to say goodbye. However, having achieved a second promotion to the Premier League last season, with another memorable final day in our stadium, and after reflection over the last couple of weeks, I feel this is the right time for me to step aside.

"I do so with great pride at the incredible progress we have made and with huge hope and optimism for the future of the club.

”To manage this club has been an absolute privilege. Over the last five seasons we have been on an incredible journey that has brought so many of the best experiences in my professional and personal life.  

”After giving so much to the role over the previous five seasons, I now look forward to taking a break from management and dedicating some time to my family, who have been with me every step of my career so far.

”Most importantly, thank you to the amazing fans and supporters of Ipswich Town. You have followed this football club through wonderful highs and difficult lows. I will be forever grateful for the way that you welcomed myself and my family, both to the football club and to the county of Suffolk. I will cherish the memories that we have shared together for the rest of my life.

”Ipswich Town will always have a special place in our hearts.”

Ipswich are now without a manager heading into their second Premier League campaign in three years.

They missed out on first place in the Championship table by 11 points last season, with Coventry City coming out on top.

Ipswich town chairman Mark Ashton insists it was an honour to work alongside McKenna.

”The job Kieran has done at this football club over the last five years is simply incredible," he added.

”When I first spoke to Kieran prior to appointing him, I knew we would be getting an extremely bright, hugely driven coach who craved the opportunity to make his own mark on a football club as a manager. To say he has done that is an understatement. 

”Achieving three promotions in four seasons, in what is your first role as a manager, is an achievement which means Kieran is now rightly discussed in the same breath as the legends of this club. 

"The mark he, his staff and his players have made on Ipswich Town and its community will live forever. It has captured a generation.  

”It’s been a true honour to stand side-by-side with Kieran over these five years and watch him grow and achieve so much. I know just how much of himself he has given to his job and he should be incredibly proud of all he has achieved. I know I am."

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