Aidan Bags First Award of 2025 Season: Keena Named SSE Airtricity/Soccer Writers Ireland Player of the Month for February

Photo: Sportsfile

TWENTY five year-old, Aidan Keena of St Patrick’s Athletic has been named the SSE Airtricity/Soccer Writers Ireland Player of the Month for February.

The Mullingar-born striker topped the nationwide poll to finish ahead of previous winner and second placed Patrick Hickey of Galway United and third placed Conan Noonan of Waterford.

Keena has been in excellent early season form for the Supersaints netting three goals, two against Sligo Rovers and another in the narrow defeat to John Caulfield’s Galway United.

The ex-Hearts of Midlothian, Hartlepool, Queens’ Park, Dunfermline,  Falkirk, Sligo Rovers and Cheltenham Town front man has now chalked up three of the SWI monthly awards – winning the previous two back in 2022 while with Sligo Rovers.

Keena is a well travelled footballer and rejoined the Richmond Park side last year to work again with ex-Ireland boss Stephen Kenny.

He was capped twice at Ireland U21 level by Kenny who handed him his debut against Armenia in Yerevan in November, 2019 and he played again in a 4-1 win over Sweden a week later in Dublin.

Aidan was the League of Ireland’s top goal-scorer in 2022 with 18 goals (21 in all competitions) for the Bit O’Red and was also named on the PFAI Team of the Year that season.

“You want to try and improve as a player every year and that’s why I do that extra bit in training and, at this stage, I do it without thinking about it.

“Goals give you confidence as a player, and especially as a striker, and that helps to being out the best of you,” said Keena who leads the St Pat’s attack again in their Dublin derby with Bohemians this weekend.

“St Pat’s have been spoken about as potential league champions but I think you could say that about a few clubs. There are no real bad teams in the Premier Division, and judging by the results so far, clubs have been up and down and it all makes for a very competitive league. Drogheda have been excellent so far but it’s hard to predict how things will pan out later on in the year,” he added.

“It’s been great for me to be back working with someone like Stephen Kenny and he’s given me this opportunity. He has faith and belief in me and that in turn gives me confidence,” he added.