Defender Jeff Kenna was a popular skipper of Blues after leading the club into the Premiership via the play-offs in 2002.

Three years later he came close to doing the same for Derby County and all that came towards the end of a career that has seen him serve his country on 27 occasions and help Blackburn win the Premiership title.

So there was plenty to talk about when we caught up with the amiable Irishman, who was still turning out on a regular basis for local Conference outfit Kidderminster Harriers last season.

Kenna started out at Southampton when he was spotted at the tender age of 12, way back in 1982.

After completing his apprenticeship on the South Coast, he signed professional terms in April 1989 and just 12 months later he made his first team bow in an old First Division game at Derby County in the penultimate match of the 1990/91 season.

"Southampton have always had a tradition of getting young lads through the youth team and into the first team," says Kenna.

"I came on for the last 15 minutes at Derby's old Baseball Ground but we lost the game 6-2.

"So when anyone asks me about my debut I prefer to talk about my full debut which came the following week against Wimbledon when we drew 1-1 - that was a much happier memory!"

Southampton reached Wembley in the 1992 in a competition called the Zenith Data Systems Cup, which was introduced to give teams in the top two divisions another opportunity to play under the Twin Towers.

Unfortunately they lost the final 3-2 to Nottingham Forest but it was still a major career highlight for Kenna.

"It was treated like a normal cup final and it was big day out for a small club like Southampton," he says.

After six years with the Saints, Kenna was the subject of a £1.5 million bid from Blackburn Rovers, who at the time were riding high at the top of the Premiership table.

He admits that it didn't take much time for him to decide on the move to Ewood Park.

"Alan Ball was the manager at Southampton at the time and he called me into the office and told me that they had accepted an offer for me but at first he wouldn't tell me which club," he recalls.

"He then went into a speech about how they wanted me to stay and wanted to offer me a new deal.

"But when he told me that it was Blackburn, well that was it! It was just a case of how quickly I could get up there to meet them and I ended up playing in the last nine games of the title-winning season."

Kenna can still vividly recall the final day of the season when Rovers travelled to Liverpool still leading the table but being chased all the way by Manchester United, who were playing at West Ham.

He remembers: "It was strange because we were being clapped into the ground by the Liverpool fans, because of their rivalry with United and the Kenny Dalglish connection they wanted us to win the league.

"We made a great start and went 1-0 up, they equalised and then Jamie Redknapp took an unbelievable free-kick into the top corner right at the death.

"I was at the end of the wall and I remember the ball whizzing past my head and before I had even turned I thought 'that's in the top corner'.

"But then within the space of two minutes, word got around that United had only drawn and we had won the title.

"I have never felt so tired and physically drained in a game as I did that afternoon. It was just a rollercoaster of emotions."

Kenna admits that it was a great time to be at Blackburn and he ended up staying at the Lancashire club for seven years.

"We played in the Champions League and the UEFA Cup and I made my second appearance at Wembley in the Charity Shield, when we lost 1-0 to Everton," he continues.

"It was massively disappointing to be relegated in 1999 but then we won promotion again two years later.

"So there were certainly more happy memories than bad."

It was during his time at Ewood Park that Kenna collected all of his Republic of Ireland caps.

"We didn't reach any major finals during my time in the team. We played in three play-offs but didn't go through, which was obviously disappointing," he says.

"But I can't complain too much because to pick up 27 international caps is no mean feat.

"And it was incredible to play at Lansdowne Road in front of the home support."

Back to domestic matters and Kenna found himself out of the Rovers side in their first season back in the top flight which was the catalyst for his move to St. Andrew's, initially on loan in December 2001.

And it turned out to be a memorable first few months as Blues clinched promotion to the Premiership.

"When I arrived Blues were in mid-table and the last thing on anybody's mind was the play-offs and promotion," he recalls.

"But we got into a good little run and the momentum took us forward.

"My overriding memory of the play-off final would have to be the penalties.

"When you looked around at the players during the second half of extra time they were all dead on their feet.

"They had made the decision to close the roof and it was so difficult to breathe at that stage of the game

"I just remember thinking that it's going to penalties and that's a lottery but thankfully our penalty takers were superb."

Kenna went onto play a pivotal role as Blues consolidated their place amongst the footballing elite in the Premiership.

"We didn't have superstars but we had good players who worked hard and were well organised," he says.

He wasn't renowned for his goal-poaching prowess but Kenna got on the scoresheet on three occasions during those two seasons in the top flight and they were all important point-clinching strikes.

"The goal I enjoyed the most would have to be the first one against Tottenham when I was playing at left back and I came inside to score with my right foot," he remembers.

"That was my first goal in the top flight for something like ten years and it was the equalising goal in a 1-1 draw so that was memorable."

And then the following season Kenna hit two goals in quick succession in victories over Manchester City and Southampton, the latter one against his former club clinching a 2-1 win.

But just two months later Kenna was moving on to Derby and he admits he was disappointed to leave.

"I certainly felt that I could play at least one more season in the Premiership but that's football," he says.

"Steve (Bruce) possibly felt that he had gone as far as he could with that group of players and he needed to bring in younger ones.

"But I went onto enjoy two very happy years at Derby."

It was a topsy-turvy time for Kenna at Pride Park as the Rams jumped between a relegation battle, a promotion bid and back again!

"I signed in the March and we avoided relegation and the following year we made the play-offs but fell at the last hurdle, losing in the semi-final to Preston," he continues.

"Then George Burley moved on and Phil Brown took over and, as with any club when a new man comes in, he had his own ideas about how things should be done.

"We had a big turnaround of players and it always takes a while for people to settle in.

"The manager got sacked, there was turmoil off the pitch with ongoing talk of takeovers and the fans weren't happy with the Board."

Kenna regularly wore the captain's armband during his time at St. Andrew's and Pride Park and was delighted to see both of his old teams clinch promotion to the top flight.

He believes that both clubs are geared up for Premiership football.

"Taking the Blues team out at Cardiff was very special, picking up the trophy and then leading the side out at Highbury in the first game in the Premiership - they are very happy memories," he says.

"Unfortunately I wasn't quite as successful at Derby but it was still a great honour to captain the side.

"The facilities at Derby are top drawer. They have a great stadium and the training ground is arguably one of the best in the country."

Kenna, now 36, is still playing full-time football for Kidderminster Harriers in the Conference and back in May he completed a hat-trick of Wembley appearances in Harriers' FA Trophy defeat to Stevenage in the first cup final at the new stadium.

He has recently signed another year's deal at Aggborough, which he admits will be his last, but after that he hopes to stay in the game.

He is already doing some coaching for the Blues community department and he is starting his 'A licence' badge this summer.