Magic McInroy! Kerr Crowned SSE Airtricity/Soccer Writers’ Player of the Month

Photo Courtesy of Sportsfile

GLASGOW-born Kerr McInroy of Shelbourne topped the Soccer Writers Ireland nationwide ballot to clinch the SWI Player of the Month award for October.

In the closest vote of the season, McInroy finished marginally ahead of June winner, Derry City’s Michael Duffy, with Galway United’s Stephen Walsh in third place.

The 25-year-old, left-footed midfielder was raised in Dunfermline and spent his youth career with Cowdenbeath (2008-2012) and with Celtic from 2012 to 2020. He played for several Scottish clubs including Dunfermline Athletic, Airdrie, Ayr United, Kilmarnock and Patrick Thistle which turned out to be his most successful loan spell making 32 appearances for the Jags, scoring four goals.

Kerr was capped by Scotland at U17 and U19 grades and has one U21 cap for the national team.

“We are delighted with how the season ended. We were obviously kind of in the middle of the table for the middle part of the season, but towards the end, we managed to go on a really good run and managed to get Europe, which was a good achievement for us. I go so far as to say it was a very good outcome.

“It's hard to compare for football played here in Ireland with that in Scotland. I'd say there's a lot more football played in the League of Ireland. There's obviously a lot of good players here. There are a lot of good players in Scotland as well. The big thing for me has probably been the atmosphere since I've came over. The stadium's kind of packed out.

Photo Courtesy of Sportsfile

“We have a really lively atmosphere for a lot of our games, especially the Dublin derbies. The atmospheres are electric. That's probably the big thing I've noticed since I've came over here,” said McInroy after receiving his first ever SSE Airtricity/SWI gong.

He added: I have played in front of bigger crowds in Scotland, but it was just kind of the passion of the games. That was probably the bit that got me and that helps you as a player. I think it's definitely helped me at Shelbourne.

The target and ambition for next year is to try and do even better as a team. Obviously, we want to be challenging for the league next year. We want to do better than what we did this year. We've obviously got a taste of the European football, so that'll be a big push for us this coming summer.

“Personally, I just want to have a better season than what I did this season. I want to chip in with more goals and assists. I feel like I did towards the end of the season, but I never did  that in the early part of the campaign. I thought I played well in the early part, but I probably was missing some of the goal chances and assists.”

McInroy signed a new contract last April and that gives him the stability to kick on next season.

“It helps okay to have your immediate future mapped out and it’s helpful to kind of know where you're going to be in a year or two. Yes, I got all that sorted in the summer,” he added.