{"id":616013,"date":"2026-09-06T06:18:32","date_gmt":"2026-09-06T06:18:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/616013\/"},"modified":"2026-09-06T06:18:32","modified_gmt":"2026-09-06T06:18:32","slug":"leanne-kiernan-ireland-was-a-big-factor-in-my-decision-to-move-to-newcastle-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/616013\/","title":{"rendered":"Leanne Kiernan: \u2018Ireland was a big factor in my decision to move to Newcastle\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The life of a footballer. A year ago, Leanne Kiernan extended her contract with Liverpool, which, along with her purchase of an apartment in the city, sealed her connection to the club she had joined from West Ham in 2021. Eleven months later? The 27-year-old Irish international was looking for a new home in Newcastle. \u201cIt\u2019s a very temporary life,\u201d she says with a laugh. That it is. In a \u201chave boots, will travel\u201d kind of way. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was settled in Liverpool alright. But then again, with our job you\u2019re never really settled. So it\u2019s always about trying to make a home in each place you go. But it\u2019s never really home \u2013 for me that\u2019s Cavan<\/a> and always will be.\u201d<\/p>\n

The leaving of Liverpool was, though, a wrench. It might not be Breffni-land, but Kiernan had grown to love the place. \u201cThe Scousers are great people, they\u2019re kind of similar to the Irish,\u201d she says. \u201cI feel like maybe after football I\u2019ll go back and live in Liverpool for a few years. I really like the city.\u201d<\/p>\n

The arrival of a new manager, Gareth Taylor, in the same month that she signed that new contract set in chain her decision to move on. \u201cHe had a different kind of style of play that I knew didn\u2019t suit me as well as the way we had been playing before,\u201d she says. She was allowed join Nottingham Forest in the WSL2 on loan last January, that brief spell opening her eyes to the lure of a fresh start. <\/p>\n

\u201cI had a great few years at Liverpool, made so many good friends, but I felt like I was ready to make the jump to a new place, a new club, and start afresh. Forest were brilliant for me, and my time there allowed me see how high the quality is in the WSL2, how competitive it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

We\u2019re delighted to announce the signing of Ireland international forward Leanne Kiernan on a permanent deal from Liverpool! \ud83d\ude4c pic.twitter.com\/z3Lhs7CC2r<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Newcastle United Women (@NUFCWomen) July 28, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cLiverpool was all I had known for a few years, and I could easily have stayed there and seen out my contract. But I just decided I wanted to move out of my comfort zone, go and fight for a position in Newcastle and hopefully help get them get promoted. That\u2019s the plan. And I\u2019m excited. It\u2019s always good to challenge yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another big factor in the decision was Kiernan\u2019s international ambition and her desire to add to her 38 caps by playing a part in the forthcoming World Cup qualifying play-offs \u2013 and, hopefully, next year\u2019s finals in Brazil. It was all very well being with a WSL club, but if she wasn\u2019t getting regular football, then she\u2019d be short of chances to make her case for a place in the Irish frontline. <\/p>\n

\"LeanneLeanne Kiernan before a preseason match for Newcastle against Burnley last Sunday. Photograph: Photograph: Michelle Mercer\/Newcastle United via Getty Images <\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t get me wrong, my life outside of football at Liverpool was brilliant, but the reason I am in England is to play. I did feel like it probably wasn\u2019t the place where I needed to be right now in my career if I wanted to get the game-time I need \u2013 and definitely, Ireland was a big factor in my decision to move to Newcastle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her last year at Liverpool was a poignant one too. She had been signed for the club by Matt Beard, the man who had brought her from Shelbourne to West Ham in 2018. He had unwavering faith in Kiernan and remained supportive through the string of injury spells she endured. It was a blow, then, when he parted company with Liverpool in February of last year, but his death seven months later was utterly devastating.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince coming over, I had Matt the whole way throughout my career. It was tough. It was just sad. So unbelievably sad looking at his wife and his kids, I would have known them all quite well. It was just heartbreaking how it all ended.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI can give nothing but praise to Matt. He gave me the opportunity to get to England and to stay in England. He believed in me the whole way through. \u201d<\/p>\n

While Beard\u2019s role in her life can never be replicated, Kiernan had a good feeling when she first spoke to Tanya Oxtoby, Newcastle\u2019s Australian manager who was in charge of Northern Ireland until last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a few phone calls over the last six months with coaching staff at different clubs and I felt like Tanya was probably the most similar to Matt. It just gave me a good feeling. I was at home in Cavan and as soon as I came off the call, I just said to my parents, \u2018I\u2019m going to Newcastle\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Newcastle were in the fourth tier of English football as recently as 2023, but they turned professional on winning promotion to the third division that year, and 12 months later they went up again, earning their spot in WSL2. <\/p>\n

Although they\u2019ve lost Kiernan\u2019s Irish team-mate Emily Murphy to the WSL\u2019s Brighton, in an undisclosed record sale for the club, they\u2019ve gone on a major recruitment drive during the summer. They have a squad packed with current or former internationals, including another Republic of Ireland player, Aoife Mannion, who joined a year ago. <\/p>\n

They finished sixth last season, this round of investment suggesting their parent club, and its Saudi owners, might finally be putting in at least some of the loot required for a big push towards promotion to the top flight. The crowd of 38,000 that turned up to watch the team\u2019s derby against Sunderland at St James\u2019 Park last season possibly awakened them to the potential of the project. <\/p>\n

After a few weeks back in Cavan during the summer, Kiernan feels ready for this new challenge. \u201cI was looking at people\u2019s social media and they were all going away to these fancy places for their holidays while I just spent three or four weeks on the farm.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"LeanneLeanne Kiernan training with Ireland earlier this year. Photograph: Ryan Byrne\/Inpho <\/p>\n

\u201cBut that\u2019s the best way for me to reset for a new season. I turn off my phone, I don\u2019t have any contact with football, I just enjoy being with my family. I\u2019m not Leanne the footballer, I\u2019m just Leanne. I guess it\u2019s my safe place. The people I love are there. It kind of makes me think there\u2019s so much more to my life than just football.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd your life can be consumed by football, maybe you only realise that when you\u2019re out injured for so long. Then you get to work on things off the pitch \u2013 like, I\u2019m currently doing my Green Cert [an agricultural qualification] online.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before moving to England, Kiernan had started a course in agriculture, that\u2019s where she saw her future. Football interrupted that route, but she\u2019s returned to it. \u201cI\u2019d like to study agricultural science, it\u2019s something I really have a love for and I really enjoy learning about. You realise football isn\u2019t your entire identity, you can find other things that you have an interest in and bring you comfort.\u201d<\/p>\n

For now, though, the focus is on football, specifically Wolves in Gateshead on Sunday, Newcastle\u2019s first WSL2 fixture of the season. A fresh start.<\/p>\n