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.
“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.”
The 2019 season was a special one across the board for the organization, and not just for being the team’s 20th anniversary.
The Hounds finished atop the Eastern Conference and scored their first playoff win in more than a decade with a record 7-0 victory over Birmingham, and Forbes was the catalyst for it all. The midfielder finished with four goals and nine assists in league play, but his value controlling the tempo of play stretched far beyond statistics, which showed in the Player of the Year voting. Since the Championship began announcing finalists for the award in 2017, Forbes is the only player to finish in the top three of voting with fewer than eight goals (excluding the pandemic-shortened 2020 season).
Forbes missed nearly a month of action in 2020, his only injury of note while with the Hounds, but his level of play has remained high over the past three seasons. In 2022 and 2023, he became the first player with back-to-back 10 assist seasons in Championship history, helping the Hounds to win the Players’ Shield last year at age 35.
Now, in the team’s 25th-anniversary season, Forbes has kept his game relevant and still plays a central role.
“I’ve been lucky. I’ve had one major injury since I’ve came to Pittsburgh, but I only missed four games. I think that was good on my part, being available over the years and being on top of my game, so I’m in the starting lineup or I’m coming off the bench,” Forbes said. “Bob’s system doesn’t really change that much, so it’s more been a matter of adapting to the league. You’ve got younger guys, they run a lot more, so for me, it’s about outsmarting them. I have to think a lot quicker these days, because I’m not as quick as I used to me. It’s more of a mind game for me out on the field.”
Lilley has seen how Forbes’ game has evolved, and he continues to put the midfielder in positions where his skills and field vision can best impact play. But, like any of the other 10 players on the field, Forbes has to live up to Lilley’s expectations for effort, defensive play and willingness to make the necessary runs.
“This is his 10th year with me, and that’s not easy to do,” Lilley said. “I think he’s been asked to grow in so many ways. It used to be, with Kenny, you just ask him to go get the ball. Now, there’s time he’s making runs off the ball to make space for others. With the demands we put on the players, he’s had to grow tactically.
Lilley continued: “I inherited a player who was pure class on the ball in 2015, but now he’s much savvier on the defensive side of the ball. He’s a more all-around player, and I think he’s more vocal now. He’ll lead more vocally, where in the beginning, he would lead more by example.”
One way in which that leadership was recognized by Hounds ownership was with his most recent contract signed before the 2023 season.
Forbes signed a three-year deal with the team that didn’t retain him just as a player, but it officially enshrined his role as a player/assistant coach with the organization, keeping him with the Hounds even in the event he chose to hang up his boots before then. That led to the decision to pass along the on-field captaincy this season to Danny Griffin, but even without the armband, Forbes remains a leader amongst his peers and in the Hounds community.
“I still think he has a lot more to give to the organization as a player, a coach and in other capacities,” Lilley said. “He’s just a class person. Recently, the Steel Army had their party the night before the first game, and — it wasn’t an appearance, it wasn’t required — but Kenardo stopped by. That’s him. He wasn’t obligated to, and I wouldn’t have even known it if I didn’t see pictures from it. But it’s potentially one of his last home openers, and he takes the time to go and show his appreciation.”
Fortunately, the Hounds community should have many more chances to show their appreciation for Forbes, who started both of the team’s matches so far in 2024.
And while Forbes appreciates the gravity of the milestone he’s about to reach, he’s still focused winning, the same as he was when he arrived in 2018.
“It’s a pretty impressive milestone to get the all-time assists records here in Pittsburgh and going to be the all-time appearance leader. That was not on my list coming here, but it’s nice to get those two,” Forbes said.
“Coming here, we wanted to take (the club) to a new level, and I think I did that. We’ve got the organization moving in the right direction, but the goal is still to win a championship here. The regular season was nice last season, but the goal is to win a championship. Hopefully this will be the season we do it, because I’m not getting any younger.”
