Aidan Keena


Aidan Keena is an Irish footballer who plays as a forward for Hartlepool United. He has previously played for St Patrick's Athletic, Heart of Midlothian, Queen's Park and Dunfermline Athletic.

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 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 English club. Prior to joining Hartlepool United Aidan Keena had unsuccessful trials with Darlington FC and Berwick Rangers..
He scored his first goal for the club in a 2-0 win against Stockport on 25 January 2020.

International career

Keena has represented the Republic of Ireland at Under-17, Under-18 and Under-19 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