Advertisement League of Ireland Horse Racing TV Listings GAA Fixtures The Video Review Sport meets news, current affairs, society & pop culture Rugby Weekly Extra Dive into all the news and analysis 3 times a week The Football Family Weekly insights from the week’s big talking points Advertisement More Stories Stephen Kenny (right) shakes hands with Damien Duff after last week's defeat.Tom Maher/INPHO Stephen Kenny says "sportsmanship is a thing of the past" in League of Ireland St Patrick’s Athletic boss unhappy that Shelbourne played on while Chris Forrester was “in distress” on ground last week. 6.16am, 14 May 2025 Share options STEPHEN KENNY BELIEVES that “sportsmanship is a thing of the past” in the League of Ireland after he confirmed Chris Forrester has been ruled out of action until after next month’s mid-season break. The St Patrick’s Athletic midfielder suffered a groin injury stretching to intercept a pass during last Friday’s 2-1 defeat to Shelbourne at Tolka Park and will now miss his side’s next four games at a minimum before the resumption on 13 June. Forrester stayed down in agony near the Shels penalty box after the incident early in the second half but, as it was not a head injury, play did not have to be stopped by the referee. The home side carried on against the 10 men and made the most of the numerical advantage as they equalised at the end of the same passage of play. Advertisement Chris Forrester receives medical treatment after Shelbourne scored.Tom Maher / INPHO Tom Maher / INPHO / INPHO “His groin, he just, you know, collapsed. The game was played on, Shelbourne played on, and the rest is history. There’s no rules anymore, there’s no, there’s no sportsmanship at all, it doesn’t exist now, it’s a big change for me coming in, sportsmanship is a thing of the past,” Kenny said, referencing a similar issue against Bohemians when they did not return the ball when it was expected. “It’s just a thing of the past. This one, you know, they (Shelbourne) play on, the referee doesn’t stop it because it’s not a head injury, but he’s (Forrester) obviously in pain, he’s in agony on the ground, so it could have went on for 10 minutes, what do you do? “He’s in agony on the ground, so, but that’s the way it is, and the rules are the rules, and the rules are, you don’t actually have to kick the ball out, I think, unless it’s a head injury, so that’s the way it is now. “There are changes, fundamental changes, that’s one of the things I noticed, that sportsmanship is dead and gone, it’s with O’Leary in the grave.” Kenny’s reference to WB Yeats is perhaps an indication of how he is still adapting to his own Second Coming in the League of Ireland after taking charge at St Pat’s following his time with the Republic of Ireland. “You have to accept it, but it’s difficult to accept, that one has not always been like that. Do you get what I mean? I suppose some people exploiting the situations has led it to become like that,because people, gamesmanship, fellas lying down, trying to get games stopped, things like that, that has led to it, but obviously he was in distress, Chris Forrester, he was in real distress when he went down, do you know what I mean? So, that was it.” On whether he will tell his players to do the same in future, Kenny said: “No, we don’t actually discuss it really, but like, I think it’s not something openly discussed, but I think it’s always sort of a code, isn’t it? You know, if it’s not a head injury, right, I’ll stop the game, but if someone’s in distress, the referee should probably stop it if someone’s in distress. “But, like, I think, how do you measure that? It’s not easy to measure, I suppose, but he went down. Anyway, listen, it is what it is, I didn’t come in to harp on about that, but sportsmanship seems to be less and less.” Kenny was speaking ahead of Friday’s visit of Cork City, a side on the look out for a new manager after Tim Clancy resigned following their 2-1 defeat at home to Derry. He cited the increased demands on bosses in the Premier Division and the need for additional support staff to share the workload as part of his reasoning. “I haven’t spoken to Tim about it yet, I was giving him a few days, so I don’t know. But it has always been a team effort. I suppose there’s more staff than there used to be because of the demand. A lot of teams maybe have analysts now, that they wouldn’t have had in the past. There’s the need for additional medical staff or sports science staff. It is something with the professionalism of the game and the number of games in short proximity, expertise is important,” Kenny said. “I don’t know Tim’s situation. There is no right or wrong sometimes, there is no blueprint. Some things work differently for other clubs. Sometimes less is more. You don’t need loads at times. But definitely everyone needs support. “Obviously he’s a good manager. He’s done a good job getting Drogheda and Cork promoted. I was surprised to see him go, because Cork’s a big club, when it’s successful, it can be important in the sporting context of that city, which is a sizeable city, it’s a passionate sporting city. So Cork is a big club.” St Pat’s are four points off league leaders Shamrock Rovers, who top the table on goal difference ahead of Derry City. Related Reads 'It has absolutely got out of control... everybody needs to keep schtum' Brotherly love and lifelong challenges for wheelchair users in League of Ireland Phenomenal growth of summer football in Clare and Mayo shows FAI plan is worth trying Drogheda United and Bohs are in third and fourth, respectively, on 24 points, with the Saints above Shels both on 22 points due to superior goal difference. “I’m not going to lie to you. Obviously, it (losing last week) was disappointing, very disappointing. I was so disappointed to lose it in that way, we should be able to close games out. I don’t feel that has been a major issue for me. “That’s the difference. We’ve dropped four points, conceded two injury-time goals in the two Dublin derbies, that’s where we’re four points behind the two top teams now, we conceded four points. “That’s been the difference, so we’ve only ourselves to blame for that. We can’t blame anyone. 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