Kenneth Edward Cunningham (born 28 June 1971) is an Irish former footballer who played as a defender. He played international football for the Republic of Ireland until his retirement in 2005. He spent his professional club career, from 1989 to 2007, in England, making more than 500 appearances in the Football League and Premier League playing for Millwall, Wimbledon, Birmingham City and Sunderland. After retirement as a professional player, he worked as a pundit for RTÉ Sport, and successfully completed the UEFA Pro Licence coaching qualification in 2011. Early life and career Cunningham was born in Dublin. He attended St. Vincent's C.B.S. primary and secondary school in the Glasnevin district. At school, he played more Gaelic football than soccer: he played for St Vincent's at Croke Park alongside future Gaelic star Dessie Farrell in a schools' final, and played for Na Fianna and the Dublin minor team. At association football, he played for the Home Farm club from under-9s to under-17s, before moving on to amateur club Tolka Rovers. Millwall On 18 September 1989, the 18-year-old Cunningham signed a one-year contract with Millwall of the English First Division. His expectations, to play out the season in England and use the experience to earn himself a good contract back in Ireland, changed when, three months before the end of that "trial" season, Millwall offered him a further two-year contract. He made his Football League debut on 17 March 1990, at right back in the starting eleven in a 1–1 draw away to Norwich City, and started four more first-team games during that season. In five years with the club, he made 136 league appearances. scoring his only career goal at Portsmouth in April 1994. Wimbledon Cunningham and teammate Jon Goodman moved to Wimbledon in November 1994, for the joint fee of £1,300,000. Cunningham played 250 league games for Wimbledon and twice named as the London side's Player of the Season. In February 2000, Cunningham was involved in an incident with Chelsea captain Dennis Wise following their match. Cunningham admitted improper behaviour in response to severe provocation from Wise and was fined £5,000 by The Football Association. Wise was charged with misconduct for the alleged confrontation in the tunnel and fined £7,500 and Chelsea and Wimbledon were both fined £50,000 each for failing to control their players. Birmingham City Cunningham moved to Birmingham City, newly promoted to the Premier League, in 2002