Alan Kirby

Who is Alan Kirby?

Alan Kirby is an Irish former footballer. He played as a midfielder, most often on the right wing.

As a 16-year-old, Kirby went to England to join Premier League club Aston Villa. He spent four years with the club without making a first-team appearance, and returned to his native Waterford. He signed for League of Ireland Premier Division club Waterford United in 1999, and two-and-a-half years later moved on to Longford Town. During his six seasons with Longford, Kirby won two FAI Cups, in 2003 and 2004, and the 2004 League of Ireland Cup, and was nominated for the 2003 PFAI Players' Player of the Year award.

Two League runners-up medals in two years with St Patrick's Athletic preceded a third FAI Cup win and promotion from the First Division with Sporting Fingal. He won his fourth FAI Cup and third League runners-up medal in 2011 with Sligo Rovers, and retired from playing after one last season with Longford Town in 2012. Kirby made sixteen appearances in the UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League, six each for Longford Town and St Patrick's Athletic, and two each for Sporting Fingal and Sligo Rovers.

Kirby was capped for Ireland at levels from under-16 to under-21, and was a member of the under-20 team that won the bronze medal at the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship. He played for the League of Ireland XI that faced Manchester United in a match to mark the opening of the Aviva Stadium in 2010.