Steve Barry

Let’s. Talk. About. Colin. Healy. Kerry FC held Cork City to a 1-1 draw last night, which was enough for a historic place in the playoffs. A club that has only been senior since 2023. That came after a poor start. Sixteen points from 18 games. No league win until the sixth match. A three-game touchline ban. Plenty KFC supporters asked questions about if he was the right man for the job. But to the club’s credit, they stood by him. What followed was the best second half of any team in the First Division. 36 points from 18 games, more than champions Cork City. A run which secured fourth and a historic playoff place, a remarkable achievement for a club that had never finished above the bottom two. From 9th to 4th. From 33 points to 52. Six fewer defeats, 17 fewer goals conceded. He only joined the club in May 2025, with Kerry ninth. Back-to-back league wins for the first time in the club’s history followed, along with an FAI Cup semi-final and a record points total. What makes it more remarkable is what he’d been through to get there. In 2024, Healy lost his wife, Kelly. He has spoken openly about how his focus became helping his two young children cope with the loss of their mother. His time as Ireland women’s assistant ended when his contract wasn’t renewed, with Healy disputing assurances he says he was given by the FAI. How the players responded says it all, with Denise O’Sullivan criticising the FAI for “lacking class”. At Cork City, Healy took over a side already on its way out of the Premier Division. Within two years, the club was back as First Division champions. When results turned in 2023, he stepped away. Time has been kind to him. Cork City were relegated again within six months of his exit, and the decline that followed said more about the club than the man. Setbacks have followed him since his playing days, from missing out on a World Cup at Saipan to two broken legs in under a year at Sunderland. Every time, he has come back. A year ago, we said Colin Healy was the right man for Kerry. Through everything, he has proved it. Look up resilience in a dictionary and there should be a photograph of Colin Healy.