Kevin Kilbane

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Kevin Kilbane
Personal information
Full name	Kevin Daniel Kilbane
Date of birth	1 February 1977 (1977-02-01) (age 32)
Place of birth	Preston, England
Height	1.84 m (6 ft +1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Left winger/Left back
Club information
Current club	Hull City
Number	17
Youth career
	Preston North End
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1995–1997 1997–1999 1999–2003 2003–2006 2006–2009 2009–	Preston North End West Bromwich Albion Sunderland Everton Wigan Athletic Hull City	048 0(3) 106 (15) 113 0(8) 104 0(4) 076 0(2) 016 0(0)
National team2
1997–	Republic of Ireland U21 Republic of Ireland	009 0(1) 096 0(7)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 08:12, 27 May 2009 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 21:55, 6 June 2009 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

Kevin Daniel Kilbane (pronounced /kɪl'bæn/; born 1 February 1977 in Preston, Lancashire) is an English born Irish footballer who plays as a left-sided midfielder for Hull City in the Premier League. He plays international football for the Republic of Ireland through Irish parentage.

[edit] Club career

[edit] Early career

Kilbane made his professional debut at his hometown club, Preston North End, after making his way through the youth system at Deepdale. It wasn't long before his performances began to attract attention from other clubs, and he was sold to West Bromwich Albion for a fee of £1 million in 1997. Kilbane was Albion's first £1 million player, breaking a club transfer record which had stood since 1979.

This heralded in a bright new era for Kilbane, as he quickly became a fan favourite at The Hawthorns and at the same time broke into the Irish international setup.

[edit] Sunderland

In December 1999, Peter Reid's Sunderland paid £2.5 million for the left winger, making him the third most expensive club signing at the time. His impact was quite literally immediate; coming off the bench on his debut against Southampton, Kilbane crossed for Kevin Phillips to score the match winner. However, this was to be Sunderland's last win until March 2000, a loss in form which came to be known as "The Curse of Kilbane".^[1]

In spite of his best efforts on the pitch, he soon became a target for the Black Cats fans to vent their frustrations, as the team's drop in form under Peter Reid continued and the team were relegated from the Premiership. The constant booing eventually proved too much for Kilbane in the summer of 2003 and after he gave the travelling Sunderland fans a two-fingered salute on a pre-season tour of France, his days at the Stadium of Light seemed numbered.

[edit] Everton

On the last day of the transfer window at the start of the 2003–04 season, Kilbane moved to Everton for just under £1 million, where he was reunited with his old boss, David Moyes. The Goodison Park fans would appreciate his commitment and re-invigorate Kilbane as a player. In return, he displayed great versatility which resulted in him being deployed right across the midfield, at left back or even as a support striker, as well has his preferred left-wing position. On 26 August 2006, during his last game for Everton, he was sent off by referee Mark Halsey for two bookable offences.

[edit] Wigan

On 31 August 2006, Kilbane signed a three-year deal with Wigan Athletic for an estimated fee of £2 million.^[2] On 15 April 2007, he scored his first goal for Wigan Athletic with a powerful header in the 3–3 draw against Tottenham Hotspur. This was his first goal at club level since October 2004. He then scored his second goal for Wigan with a looping header over Robert Green's head from Ryan Taylor's cross as Wigan went on to beat West Ham 1–0. Kilbane played most of his second season in the unfamiliar left back role, but still managed to win Wiganer.net's Player of The Season Award.^[3]

[edit] Hull City

With limited first-team opportunities at Wigan due to the emergence of Maynor Figueroa and with his contract set to expire in the summer, Kilbane transferred to Hull City on 15 January 2009 for an undisclosed fee believed to be in the region of £500,000,^[4] signing a two-and-a-half-year deal with the Yorkshire club.^[5]

[edit] International career

Kilbane made his international debut against Iceland on 6 September 1997.^[6] He was chosen as part of Mick McCarthy's Ireland squad for the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan. The team did relatively well at the tournament, progressing to the round of 16. They lost to Spain in a penalty shootout when Iker Casillas saved Kilbane and David Connolly's penalties.

He is however, jokingly known by the Irish supporters as "Zinedine Kilbane" in comparison to French playmaker Zinedine Zidane. At one point there were t-shirts with this printed on it for sale outside Lansdowne Road after international matches.^{[citation needed]}

Kilbane scored his first international goal in nearly four years with a magnificent strike against the Czech Republic on 11 October 2006.

As of 10 September 2008 he is third on the list of all-time appearances for Ireland, having won 90 caps. His appearance against Montenegro was his 50th consecutive competitive game for his country; only England's Billy Wright and Theo Zagorakis of Greece have achieved longer unbroken runs in competitive international football.^[7]

[edit] Personal life

Kilbane's brother, Farrell is also a footballer. He currently plays for Conference North club Fleetwood Town.^[8]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Kevin Kilbane career stats at Soccerbase

v • d • e Republic of Ireland squad – 2002 FIFA World Cup 1 Given • 2 Finnan • 3 Harte • 4 Cunningham • 5 Staunton • 6 Roy Keane • 7 McAteer • 8 Holland • 9 Duff • 10 Robbie Keane • 11 Kilbane • 12 Kinsella • 13 Connolly • 14 Breen • 15 Dunne • 16 Kiely • 17 Quinn • 18 G. Kelly • 19 Morrison • 20 O'Brien • 21 Reid • 22 Carsley • 23 A. Kelly • Coach: McCarthy