The rise and rise of Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna

Last weekend, the remarkable rise of one of the most respected young managers in the game continued as Kieran Mckenna's Ipswich Town clinched promotion to the Premier League.

Fermanagh native McKenna is just 37 years old.

Having retired when he was 22 due to a debilitating hip injury, he threw himself into coaching, making swift and impressive progress.

The former Northern Ireland underage international got his first break at Tottenham, starting off as their head of academy performance analysis before eventually taking over the club's Under-18s.

In the summer of 2016, he moved to Manchester United to take over their Under-18s. He excelled, earning promotion - along with Michael Carrick - to the first-team's coaching set-up under Jose Mourinho. He was retained under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and later Ralf Rangnick before jumping ship to take the Ipswich job in December 2021.

The Tractor Boys were 12th in League One at the time. In his first two full seasons at the helm, McKenna has steered them to the top flight for the first time since 2002, working within a very modest budget and achieving success while playing a progressive, attractive brand of football.

If McKenna can establish Ipswich in the Premier League, he will be one of the most sought after managers around.

"It's off the scale," Keith Treacy said on the RTÉ Soccer Podcast.

"I don't think people have quite taken in how big an achievement it is. To do back-to-back promotions is crazy, it really is crazy.

"I'm looking at this and, not to be negative about it, in the back of my own head I'm thinking, 'is Kieran McKenna going to be a flash in the pan, is he going to go on to be a brilliant coach and briliant manager?'. But you look at his CV.

"He clearly has a pedigree that all