# Aidan Keena

Aidan Keena (born 25 April 1999) is an Irish footballer who plays as a forward for League of Ireland Premier Division club St Patrick's Athletic. He has previously played for Heart of Midlothian, Hartlepool United, Queen's Park, Dunfermline Athletic, Falkirk, Sligo Rovers and Cheltenham Town.

## Club career
### St Patrick's Athletic

Keena, a member of the St Patrick's Athletic under 19's squad, was called up to the first team by manager Liam Buckley for pre-season in January 2017 despite being just 17 years old. He scored on his first team debut, in a 5–0 win over Bluebell United in a friendly. Keena made his first official appearance in senior football on 24 February 2017 when he came on as a 67th-minute substitute in the Saints opening game of the season against Bray Wanderers. With Pats trailing 2–0, Kenna set up Graham Kelly for an 85th-minute goal before being shown a straight red card in the 91st minute for a late tackle on Dylan Connolly. Keena went on to make four more appearances for the club (two league and two League Cup) in the 2017 season, with the last of those being a Dublin Derby against Bohemians on 16 June 2017.

### Heart of Midlothian

Keena was signed by Heart of Midlothian in August 2017. After impressing first team staff with his goalscoring form for the reserves, he was called up to the first team and made his debut as a late substitute in a 1–1 draw versus Partick Thistle at Tynecastle Park on 19 November 2017. Keena was loaned to Scottish League One club Queen's Park in January 2018. In August 2018, he joined Dunfermline Athletic in the Scottish Championship on a season-long loan.
After a promising few months with Dunfermline, Keena was recalled to Hearts in January, scoring his first goal for the club in a 4–0 victory against Auchinleck Talbot in the Scottish Cup.

### Hartlepool United

Keena left Hearts in January 2020 and signed for Hartlepool United. Prior to this, Keena had unsuccessful trials with Darlington and Berwick Rangers.
He scored his first goal for the club in a 2–0 win against Stockport County on 25 January 2020.

### Falkirk

After leaving Hartlepool, Keena returned to Scotland and signed a two-year deal with Scottish League One side Falkirk on 5 August 2020. On 24 January 2022, it was announced that Keena had left Falkirk by mutual consent after 8 goals in 38 appearances for the club.

### Sligo Rovers

On 24 January 2022, Keena signed for League of Ireland Premier Division club Sligo Rovers and quickly established himself. Keena made his debut on 25 February 2022, scoring the winner in a 2–1 victory away to his first senior club St Patrick's Athletic. On 14 March 2022, he scored a hat-trick in a 3–1 win over Finn Harps at The Showgrounds. Keena was named League of Ireland Player of the Month for March 2022, following a great start to life at his new club, scoring 5 goals in his first 6 appearances. He scored a brace in a 3–1 win at home to Shelbourne on 2 July 2022, his 10th and 11th goals of the season, to return to the top of the goal scoring charts in the league. On 7 July 2022, he scored on his debut in European football, scoring the equaliser in a 2–1 win away to Welsh side Bala Town in the UEFA Europa Conference League. On 21 July 2022, Keena scored the winning goal in a 1–0 victory away to Motherwell in the UEFA Europa Conference League. He was named League of Ireland Player of the Month for July 2022, his second time winning the award. Keena finished the 2022 season as League of Ireland Premier Division top goalscorer with 18 goals. He ended the 2022 season with 21 goals in all competitions, two in the UEFA Conference League, one in the FAI Cup and eighteen in the league. He played a huge role in the attack for Rovers that year, also contributing 5 assists. Despite finishing as the top goalscorer and with 2 Player of the Month awards, he was not nominated for PFAI Players' Player of the Year.

### Cheltenham Town

On 29 January 2023, Keena signed for Cheltenham Town for an undisclosed fee, reported as surpassing the club's previous record transfer of £50,000.

### Return to St Patrick's Athletic
#### 2024 season

On 28 July 2024, Keena returned to his first senior club, St Patrick's Athletic. He made his debut on 4 August 2024, scoring a penalty in a 3–2 win over his former club Sligo Rovers. On 21 September 2024, Keena came off the bench to score the third goal of the game in a 3–0 win over Waterford. On 18 October 2024, he scored both his sides goals in a 2–1 win over Galway United. On 1 November 2024, Keena opened the scoring in 2–0 win over Sligo Rovers as his side won a record equaling 9 league games in a row to secure 3rd position in the table and UEFA Conference League football for the following season.

#### 2025 season

Keena scored his first goal of the 2025 season in his sides first game of the season on 18 January 2025, coming off the bench for Conor Carty at half time, before scoring the second goal in a 2–0 win away to Inchicore Athletic in the Leinster Senior Cup. He scored his first league goal of the season on 21 February 2025 away to Galway United, with an incredible left footed volley on the turn, having controlled the ball with his right foot with his back to goal. The following week he scored twice in a 4–3 win against his former club Sligo Rovers at Richmond Park, including a 79th minute winner a minute after his side had conceded an equaliser. On 3 March 2025, he scored both of his side's goals in a 2–0 win at home to Derry City to make it 5 goals in his last 3 games. On 12 March 2025, he was named League of Ireland Player of the Month for February 2025, his third time winning the award in his career.

## International career

Keena has represented the Republic of Ireland at under-17, under-18, under-19 and under-21 level. On 6 November 2019, Keena was announced in Stephen Kenny's Republic of Ireland U21 side for the first time, for their European Under-21 Championship qualification games against Armenia U21 & Sweden U21.

## Career statistics

    As of match played 14 March 2025
| Season | Club | League | League | League | National Cup | National Cup | League Cup | League Cup | Europe | Europe | Other | Other | Total | Total |
| Season | Club | Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| St Patrick's Athletic | 2017 | LOI Premier Division | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Heart of Midlothian | 2017–18 | Scottish Premiership | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 |
| Heart of Midlothian | 2018–19 | Scottish Premiership | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 1 | 9 | 2 |
| Heart of Midlothian | 2019–20 | Scottish Premiership | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | — | 3 | 3 | 12 | 3 |
| Heart of Midlothian | Total | Total | 11 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 0 | — | — | 4 | 4 | 22 | 5 |
| Queen's Park (loan) | 2017–18 | Scottish League One | 14 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2 | 0 | 16 | 8 |
| Dunfermline Athletic (loan) | 2018–19 | Scottish Championship | 12 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | 12 | 4 |
| Hartlepool United | 2019–20 | National League | 8 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 8 | 2 |
| Falkirk | 2020–21 | Scottish League One | 11 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | — | — | — | — | 14 | 2 |
| Falkirk | 2021–22 | Scottish League One | 21 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 1 | 24 | 6 |
| Falkirk | Total | Total | 32 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | — | — | 1 | 1 | 38 | 8 |
| Sligo Rovers | 2022 | LOI Premier Division | 32 | 18 | 1 | 1 | — | — | 5 | 2 | — | — | 38 | 21 |
| Cheltenham Town | 2022–23 | EFL League One | 19 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | 20 | 6 |
| Cheltenham Town | 2023–24 | EFL League One | 41 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 3 | 0 | 46 | 1 |
| Cheltenham Town | Total | Total | 60 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 4 | 0 | 66 | 7 |
| St Patrick's Athletic | 2024 | LOI Premier Division | 11 | 5 | — | — | — | — | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 5 |
| St Patrick's Athletic | 2025 | LOI Premier Division | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 6 |
| St Patrick's Athletic | Total | Total | 17 | 10 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 24 | 11 |
| Career total | Career total | Career total | 189 | 55 | 6 | 2 | 11 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 14 | 6 | 229 | 66 |
* ↑ Includes FAI Cup, Scottish Cup & FA Cup
* ↑ Includes League of Ireland Cup, Scottish League Cup & EFL Cup
* 1 2 3 Appearances in Leinster Senior Cup
* 1 2 Appearances for Hearts under-21s in Scottish Challenge Cup in which age-restricted sides from the Scottish Premiership clubs compete against senior clubs
* ↑ Appearances in Scottish League One play-offs
* 1 2 Appearances in Scottish Challenge Cup
* ↑ Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League
* 1 2 Appearances in EFL Trophy
* 1 2 Appearances in the UEFA Conference League

## Honours
### Club

St Patrick's Athletic
* Leinster Senior Cup (1): 2023–24

### Individual

* League of Ireland Player of the Month (3): March 2022, July 2022, February 2025
* League of Ireland Premier Division top scorer (1): 2022
* PFAI Premier Division Team of the Year (1): 2022