When Kieran McKenna took over Ipswich Town in 2021, they were labouring in League One. Four seasons later, after three promotions – including a return to the Premier League – he has walked away. The 40-year-old resigned on Monday, just weeks after the Tractor Boys sealed their top-flight place by finishing runners-up in the Championship in May.
McKenna left a first-team coaching position at Manchester United to take charge in December 2021, when Ipswich were languishing in the third tier. He led them back to the Championship at the end of his first full season, then beat Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola and Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta to the League Managers’ Association manager of the year award in 2024 after back-to-back promotions ended a 22-year Premier League absence.
“Kieran McKenna has resigned as Ipswich Town manager weeks after guiding them back to the Premier League.”
“I feel this is the right time for me to step aside,” McKenna said. “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. 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.”
McKenna, born in London and raised in Northern Ireland, had two years remaining on his contract after signing a four-year deal in 2024. He won 105 of his 222 games in charge.
Chairman Mark Ashton said he was “gutted” to lose the highly regarded manager. “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,” Ashton said. “The mark he, his staff and his players have made on Ipswich Town and its community will live forever. It has captured a generation.”
Former Wolves head coach Gary O’Neil – currently boss of Strasbourg after being appointed in January – is one manager in the frame to replace McKenna. The 43-year-old, who spent two years as a player with Ipswich’s big rivals Norwich City, has admirers at Portman Road. The club are open-minded about a successor, but O’Neil is a contender.
Ipswich now face the urgent task of finding a new manager before their first Premier League campaign in 22 years begins.