Kerry ready for leap into the 'unknown' in League of Ireland debut

When the SSE Airtricity League First Division kicks off on Friday there will be one obvious change.

It's bye-bye to bye weeks as the second tier of the League of Ireland returns to being an even-numbered, 10-team division, having been restricted to nine clubs for a season due to the merger of Bray Wanderers and Cabinteely.

As former Dundalk goalkeeper Gary Rogers said on the RTÉ Soccer Podcast in February of last year, "The most disappointing fact about the First Division is the fact that it is nine teams.

"A bye week in senior professional football is just not a really good look to be honest.

"I think that if we have aspirations to have a third tier in League of Ireland football and we can't fill a second tier at the minute, it's just not good."

While an LOI third tier remains on the long finger for now, the identity of the team taking the 10th slot in the First Division brings plenty of intrigue for the season ahead and a welcome sense of geographic growth for the game.

For the very first time, the Kingdom will have a representative in one of the top two tiers of Irish football, as this Friday, Kerry will make their debut when they welcome Cobh Ramblers to Tralee's Mounthawk Park for the opening game of the season.

It was a long time coming to get to this point of bringing senior League of Ireland football to the hometown and county of the club's manager and sporting director Billy Dennehy.

"Obviously it's the first time being in the league as a club and we're probably going into the unknown a little bit but League of Ireland football has been a lifetime coming to Kerry to be honest and it's great that it's finally here," the former Shamrock Rovers, Cork City, St Patrick's Athletic and Sunderland player said at the launch of