However, he never played in a competitive fixture for Everton, and joined Mansfield on a free transfer in March 1983.
He was a versatile player who could play on the left wing, as left-back or in midfield.
As the club's regular penalty-taker, Kearney scored the first goal in the penalty shootout, and also scored the winning goal from the penalty spot when Mansfield won against Middlesbrough in the quarter-final of the same competition.
[2] In total, Kearney played 303 first-team games and scored 37 goals for Mansfield before leaving the club to join Bury in January 1991.
He spent three years at Gigg Lane, playing just over a hundred games for the club before being released on a free transfer at the end of the 1993-94 season.