During his coaching career, Kernaghan has managed Scottish clubs Clyde and Dundee, and Glentoran in the Northern Irish league, which he resigned from after an embarrassing 3–2 defeat to struggling Championship side Annagh United.
Born in Otley, West Yorkshire, England, Kernaghan moved with his family to Bangor, County Down at the age of four.
He began his playing career as an apprentice at Middlesbrough, and went on to make 212 appearances during an eight-year period, scoring 16 goals.
[4] He was on a player/assistant manager role at the club, making four first team appearances for Livingston, but he was sacked along with Preston after a poor run of results.
[8] Kernaghan made an appearance as a player during a 2013–14 pre-season friendly versus FC Einheit Rudolstadt, replacing Aaron Pierre after 65 minutes.
[9] He left Brentford in December 2013, after new manager Mark Warburton decided to make changes to the club's coaching staff.
Players coming through Rangers Academy during that period included Steven McLaren (Sheffield Wednesday), Hamed Namouchi (Tunisian International), Alan Hutton, Charlie Adam, Dean Furman (Oldham Athletic), and Danny Wilson (Liverpool) Brought up in Bangor, Northern Ireland, Kernaghan played for Northern Ireland Schoolboys six times.