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Leanne Kiernan
	Kiernan with Liverpool in 2024
Personal information
Date of birth	27 April 1999 (age 25)
Place of birth	Bailieborough, Ireland
Height	5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Position(s)	Striker
Team information
Current team	Liverpool
Number	9
Youth career
	Bailieboro Celtic
	Kingscourt Harps AFC
Senior career*
Years	Team
2015–2018	Shelbourne
2018–2021	West Ham United
2021–	Liverpool
International career‡
2016	Republic of Ireland U17
2017	Republic of Ireland U19
2018–	Republic of Ireland
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 03:25, 14 December 2024 (UTC); ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 02:37, 22 May 2024 (UTC)

Leanne Kiernan (born 27 April 1999) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a striker for Women's Super League club Liverpool and the Republic of Ireland national team.

Early life

Born in Bailieborough in County Cavan, Kiernan attended Bailieborough Community School, where she played for the girls futsal team. She played with Bailieboro Celtic and, at the age of 12, with the boys team at Kingscourt Harps, where she was spotted by FAI scout Mark Leavy and selected for their emerging talent programme.^[1] Outside of soccer, Kiernan had been an accomplished cross-country runner, winning the Ulster club juvenile cross-country championship four times with Shercock Athletic Club, and finishing fourth in the Irish U-13 cross-country championships in 2011. She also played Gaelic football for Cavan up to U-16 level. She lived with her family on a pig farm in Killinkere.^[2]

Club career

Shelbourne

Kiernan joined Shelbourne at the age of 15.^[2] On 1 May 2016, she scored the winner for Shelbourne against UCD Waves in the WNL Cup final at Richmond Park.^[3] In the 2015–16 season, she scored 5 goals.^[4] In 2016, she scored 12 goals^[5] and was part of the "invincible" Shelbourne side that won the WNL without losing a single game.^[6] On 6 November 2016, she scored a hat-trick against Wexford Youths in the FAI Women's Cup final.^[7] In January 2017, she was named Young Player of the Year at 2016 Continental Tyres Women's National League Awards, earning a spot in the Team of the Year as well.^[8] The following week, she was also named Sportswoman of the Month for December 2016 by The Irish Times.^[3] On 22 August 2017, she made her UEFA Women's Champions League debut in a 0–0 draw with KKPK Medyk Konin. She finished the 2017 season with 9 goals.^[9] Kiernan began the 2018 season with 11 goals in her first six games – taking her total to 37 league goals in her three-and-a-half years with Shelbourne – before her departure in July.^[10]

West Ham United

On 18 July 2018, Kiernan signed with West Ham United.^[11]^[12] On 19 August 2018, she made her debut in a 3–1 loss to Arsenal in the FA WSL Cup.^[13] On 26 August 2018, she scored her first goal in a 4–1 win over Lewes.^[14]

On 21 May 2021 Kiernan left West Ham following the expiry of her contract.^[15]

Liverpool

On 22 June 2021, Kiernan signed for Liverpool, where she was re-united with her former West Ham manager Matt Beard and was assigned the number 9 jersey.^[16] She recovered from shin splints which had disrupted her progress and recaptured her goal scoring form in the 2021–22 FA Women's Championship season.^[17] She scored 13 goals for the title-winning Liverpool team who won promotion back to the Women's Super League, and signed a new contract with Liverpool in September 2022.^[18] On the opening day of the 2022–23 Women's Super League season, Kiernan suffered an ankle injury in Liverpool's 2–1 win over Chelsea which required surgery and ruled her out for several months.^[19]

International career

Kiernan received a senior call-up in August 2016, first coming into the squad for two challenge matches against Wales in Newport.^[3] She scored the winner on her competitive debut, a 2–1 victory against the Basque Country at Tallaght Stadium on 26 November 2016.^[20] She was not named in Ireland's 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup squad.^[21]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 12 December 2024'^[22]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club	Season	League			National Cup ^[a]		League Cup ^[b]		Europe ^[c]		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Shelbourne	2016	Women's National League	12	11	3	5	0	0	—		15	16
	2017	Women's National League	12	12	0	0	2	1	—		14	13
	2018	Women's National League	8	11	0	0	1	0	1	0	10	11
	Total		32	34	3	5	3	1	1	0	39	40
West Ham	2018–19	Women's Super League	15	2	0	0	2	1	—		17	3
	2019–20	Women's Super League	9	1	0	0	4	2	—		13	3
	2020–21	Women's Super League	7	0	0	0	3	2	—		10	2
	Total		31	3	0	0	9	5	—		40	8
Liverpool	2021–22	Women's Championship	22	13	2	0	2	1	—		26	14
	2022–23	Women's Super League	2	0	0	0	0	0	—		2	0
	2023–24	Women's Super League	14	5	2	0	3	0	—		19	5
	2024–25	Women's Super League	9	0	0	0	3	1	—		12	1
	Total		47	18	4	0	8	2	—		59	20
Career total			110	55	7	5	20	8	1	0	138	68

^ Includes the Women's FA Cup
^ Includes the FA Women's League Cup
^ Includes the UEFA Women's Champions League

International

As of match played 10 April 2024.^[23]

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Republic of Ireland	2016	1	0
	2017	7	0
	2018	7	4
	2019	5	0
	2020	1	0
	2021	2	0
	2022	4	0
	2023	1	0
	2024	4	0
Total		32	4

Scores and results list Republic of Ireland's goals first, score column indicates score after each Kiernan goal.

International goals scored by Leanne Kiernan
No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition	Ref.
1	21 January 2018	Estádio de São Miguel, The Azores, Portugal	Portugal	2–0	3–1	Friendly	^[24]
2	6 April 2018	Tallaght Stadium, Tallaght, Republic of Ireland	Slovakia	1–0	2–1	2019 FIFA Women's World Cup Qualification	^[25]
3	31 August 2018	Tallaght Stadium, Tallaght, Republic of Ireland	Northern Ireland	1–0	4–0
4	31 August 2018	Tallaght Stadium, Tallaght, Republic of Ireland	Northern Ireland	3–0	4–0