March 20, 2024 – United Soccer League Championship (USL) – Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC News Release
Kenardo Forbes has done more than enough on the field to earn his “King Kenny” nickname. Now, the King is on the cusp of becoming the Riverhounds’ longest-serving monarch.
Forbes has been the centerpiece of the most successful six-year run in club history since his arrival in 2018, and the next time he steps on the field in a match – very likely this Saturday at Louisville – the Jamaican midfielder will equal the club record with his 195th appearance in all competitions, tying the mark held for nearly 20 years by David Flavius.
The individual accolades accumulated by Forbes, now in his seventh season in Pittsburgh, are many. The USL Championship and Riverhounds’ all-time assist leader has been a First Team or Second Team All-USL Championship selection every year with the Hounds, and in 2019, he was one of three finalists for the league’s Player of the Year.
But this newest statistcal milestone serves to underline how Forbes has made Pittsburgh home for himself and his family, becoming one of the club’s all-time greats in the process.
“That was the plan all along coming here. I’m not a guy who likes to change teams; I like to stay in one place,” Forbes said. “Rochester got folded as a team, so my plan was to play here, and I wasn’t going to leave.”
The folding of the Rochester Rhinos after the 2017 season led to head coach Bob Lilley being hired the Hounds, and Forbes was one of seven ex-Rhinos to follow Lilley for his first year in Pittsburgh. Forbes had spent three years under Lilley in New York, including the team’s title-winning 2015 season and Forbes’ first All-USL selection in 2016.
Retaining the services of his creative midfielder was a coup for Lilley, and it helped provide the Hounds with a foundation to eventually finish third in the Eastern Conference in 2018.
Kenardo Forbes during the 2018 season, his first with the Riverhounds.
“He sees things other players don’t. His awareness on the field – where his teammates are, where the opponent is – is as good as anyone,” Lilley said. “He loves to train, and he’s always been guy that is unselfish and garners respect from everyone in the locker room and everyone in the organization. It’s the same here as it was in Rochester, so it was a no-brainer to bring him over. It was probably the best decision I made coming over here.”
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