Brian Kerr named as Special Guest for 2025 Donegal Sports Star Awards

Brian Kerr has been named as the Special Guest for the 2025 Donegal Sports Star Awards on Friday, January 30.

The former Republic of Ireland manager was named as the Special Guest at the Launch for the 2025 awards by Chairperson Grace Boyle in the Mount Errigal Hotel on Wednesday evening.

Kerr is a well-respected figure within Irish football, predominantly as a manager and coach,  and more recently, as a pundit.

Kerr, born in Dublin in 1953, started coaching in his early teens, first coaching a Crumlin United Under-11 side at the age of just 13.

Kerr upon becoming manager of St Patrick’s Athletics, helped to reshape the fortunes of the club, and he guided the side to their first Premier Division title for 34 years in 1990, and another in 1996.

In 1997, Kerr was appointed Republic of Ireland Under 20 manager, also taking over as the boss of the U16s and U18s.

And in 1998, he led both the U18s and U16s to an incredible double as both sides won the European Championships.

These teams that developed under Kerr would go on to shape some of the Irish squad that made the knockout stages of the 2002 World Cup in South Korea/Japan.

Due to his success at underage level, he was appointed as Mick McCarthy’s successor for the Republic of Ireland job in 2003.

Kerr still continued to contribute to football both domestically and abroad after his departure, serving as technical director of St Patrick’s Athletic once again and later took charge of the Faroe Islands national team between 2009 and 2011, where he earned praise for improving their competitiveness on the international stage.

In later years, Kerr became a prominent pundit and analyst for RTÉ and Virgin Media Sport.