‘I wanted to depart in the best way possible’: Kieran McKenna on Ipswich exit and future plans

It was on the Portman Road pitch, bathed in bright early May light while immersed in the relief and joy of a third promotion in five years, that Kieran McKenna realised the moment was right. The thought had flickered earlier in the season that this might be his final campaign at Ipswich, only to be pushed into the subconscious by the Championship’s remorseless grind. “But standing out there, I felt this was probably time,” he says of those moments after QPR had been swept aside and a return to the Premier League assured. “Another big victory, a full stadium, in front of my family and the fans. It was an amazing way to go out on a high.”

Five months later McKenna has no regrets about electing to cut things short while the going was so good. The golf bag lying outside his garage speaks of a man enjoying the break and, more pertinently, of something bigger. His son has recently become interested in the sport and sharing those moments with loved ones, whether out on the greens or spending part of the summer travelling along the East Anglian coastline in a camper van, were among the biggest reasons to pause a soaring career. At 40, McKenna had spent two decades immersed in coaching; it was time to appreciate life’s essentials while continuing professional development at his own speed.

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He had, as usual, been linked with moves away but the idea of a voluntary career break was hard for many to fathom when the decision was finalised in June. “For people on the outside it’s maybe a bit more difficult,” he says. “But those who know my path and my values, the ones closest to me who know me really well, I think they understood why I wanted to step out and what the benefits were of having a period like this.”

Not everyone in football saw it that way: the phone has rung with proposals for his next move but McKenna says those overtures arrived “too soon, especially given the way I left Ipswich”. Leaving through the front door, a luxury rarely afforded, made him proud and there is no desperation to leap back into the fray. “I’m certainly in no rush,” he says. “I’m enjoying the time I’m having and hopefully an opportunity will come along that’s right. I have an idea what that would feel like but football doesn’t always follow your plan.”

Since early September he has dipped his toe back in. That has involved tuning back into the process of watching and assessing games, while travelling to spend time with Bayern Munich, the Wigan Warriors rugby team and Colorado Rapids, who are managed by his friend Matt Wells. He has been working on foreign languages, topping up an already competent level of Spanish. This week he is visiting clubs in Spain and, next Wednesday, he will begin work as a technical observer for Uefa when Shakhtar Donetsk play AEK Athens at Stamford Bridge. “I wanted to give myself the best possibility to learn before taking on the next challenge,” he says.