Kerrigan happy to extend stay in Italy

Tubbercurry native Liam Kerrigan is on the move as he has left Serie A side Como to join Ternana who play in Serie C. Como, who are managed by Cesc Fabregas, are one of the biggest spending sides in Italy and Kerrigan knew that his time was coming to an end.

“When my loan spell ended with Beveren in Belgium, even though I had a year left on contract it seemed to be the way things were going. Things have been mental at Como the past couple of seasons with promotion to Serie A and the money they have been spending. They’re looking to target European qualification this year. I knew that I wasn’t really in their plans. Of the squad that had been at the club when I signed first there was only three of us left. They let me know that I could leave and let me weigh up my options. There was a group of players who they wanted to move on and we trained together and as you were waiting for a move, the group would get smaller as players moved on.” 

Kerrigan had offers from clubs in Ireland and elsewhere in Europe but opted to stay in Italy as he enjoys the lifestyle and the style of football in the country.

“I was lucky in that there was a good bit of interest in me from a few clubs in Italy and also from clubs in other European countries. There were offers from clubs at home in Ireland as well. In the end though I wanted to stay in Italy. When I had left Italy I thought I wouldn’t be going back but having been away from it from a year I realised I missed the country and that I wanted to stay there. I enjoyed the lifestyle and liked the style of football.” Ternana had been admirers of Kerrigan’s for a while.

“Ternana had been one of the first clubs to contact me, they had been on at the start of the window. I had been waiting to see what other options there might be but their interest really ramped up in the past couple of weeks and became more concrete. They play in the middle section of Serie C; it is split into three divisions. I had played in the Northern Section when I was on loan with Novara. Ternana had been in Serie B when I signed with Como but I didn’t get to play against them as I had done my ACL and they got relegated then in my first season in Italy.” 

Located about an hour and a half to the north of Rome, Terni is a football mad city and Kerrigan says that the football club is at the centre of their daily lives.

“They are a big club with a lovely stadium and a lot of fans. It is a secluded city in the middle of Italy which is surrounded by countryside in a valley. The big thing for the locals is their football club. It helps as well that Ed McJannet is here as well, he has come in loan from Lecce. Like myself he has played with Ireland U21s and even though he is four years younger it is great to have another English speaker. My Italian is getting better and I can understand more than I can speak. I know all the football terms and can hold my own in one on one conversations once it doesn’t get too complicated! The season only started there at the weekend, we were home to Ascoli who Liam Brady used to play for.” 

Kerrigan says the club’s main aim is to get promoted and he hopes to help them achieve that.

“The club got to the play off final last year but were beaten on penalties over two legs. It’s very difficult to get to the play off final in Serie C so obviously now the club want to go one step better and I want to help them do that. For me then the aim is to be playing regularly and hopefully I will do well and that will lead to more exposure for me. I want to get promoted, this is a very nice place, football mad like a lot of Italian cities and it would be great to help them get back to Serie B.”