Player Profile

Town have enjoyed some wonderful loan players over the years, but few have become so central to Town as quickly as Dan Kemp. After an impressive second half of the 2022/3 season at Hartlepool United, Town moved quickly to sign Kemp on loan from Milton Keynes in the summer of 2023: despite being in the same division, Kemp seemed to be surplus to MK manager Graham Alexander’s requirements. It was hard to see why, considering the impact he had in SN1.

Playing as a number 10 in an attacking plan essentially built around his skills, Kemp proved Town’s main creative outlet, creating plenty of chances and managing to finish plenty of them himself. Over his spell at the club, he scored sixteen goals and provided eight assists across just 27 games in red and white, striking up a wonderful partnership with fellow loanee Jake Young in particular.

Kemp missed one league game during his spell at the club: the game against his parent club where he wasn’t allowed to play, and was only substituted once, in the 81st minute against Crawley, when Town were already 5-0 up.

As the old adage goes, never fall in love with a loan player. To nobody’s surprise, Kemp was recalled to Milton Keynes on January 2nd by new manager Mike Williamson, and with Town under transfer restrictions preventing them from paying a fee, there was no realistic prospect of bringing him in permanently. Rumours suggested that Kemp could have been purchased on a permanent deal for £50k the previous summer, but Town opted for a loan deal: what might have been had he signed on a permanent?

Despite leaving the club in January, Kemp was voted Swindon’s player of the season: a bright silver lining on a dark rain cloud of a year.

Playing Record

Senior

Career details

Club	Details
Chelsea Chelsea	2005 (youth)
West Ham United West Ham United	November 2015 (youth scholarship) June 6th, 2018 (signed professional contract); transferred out (January 15th, 2021)
Stevenage Stevenage	January 31st, 2020 (loan); expired (2019/0)
Blackpool Blackpool	September 3rd, 2020 (loan); recalled from loan (January 15th, 2021)
Leyton Orient Leyton Orient	January 15th, 2021 (transferred in, undisclosed fee); transferred out (January 31st, 2022)
Milton Keynes Dons MK Dons	January 31st, 2022 (transferred in, undisclosed fee); released (rptd May 17th, 2024)
Hartlepool United Hartlepool United	January 31st, 2023 (loan); expired (2022/3)
Swindon Town Swindon	July 18th, 2023 (loan); recalled from loan (January 1st, 2024)
Stevenage Stevenage	July 1st, 2024 (announced June 10th, 2024) (unattached)