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Birthdate:
02.05.1981
Birthplace: Leicester, England
Other clubs: Coventry, WBA (on loan), Wigan Athletic (first on loan, then completed the move),
Bought from: Coventry
Signed for LFC: £6000000 31.08.2001
International debut: 16.08.2006 vs. Greece
International caps: 1/0 (16.08.2006)
Liverpool debut:
09.10.2001
Last appearance: 11.12.2004
Contract expiry: 27.10.2006
LFC league games/goals: 25 / 0
Total LFC games/goals: 45 / 0
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Player Notes:
A towering goalkeeper who graduated from Coventry's youth academy and made his first team debut for the Sky Blues on the 22nd of September 1999. He played his second game a year later showing so much promise that he replaced Swedish international Magnus Hedman for good. He was voted Young Player of the Year by Coventry's supporters. His progress was further rewarded when he made his England u-21 debut on 24th of May 2001 against Mexico. After only 29 appearances for Coventry he was signed by Liverpool on the same day Feyenoord's goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek was brought to Anfield.
14 months after his debut Kirkland finally got an extended run of 14 games when Dudek was dropped. Injuries stopped him in his tracks and let Dudek back into the starting line-up. Kirkland is currently at Wigan, in a bid to reestablish himself as one of England's finest keepers.
Kirkland finally made his full England debut in August 2006, to justify a bet his father had made years earlier that his son would play for England before reaching the age of thirty. Kirkland will be thirty in May 2011 but has not added to his one full England cap; and any lingering hopes he had of being named in the provisional 30-man squad for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa were dashed when the three goalkeepers were announced as being David James, Joe Hart and Robert Green. Goalkeepers usually have longer careers than outfield players. Chris Kirkland ought to have many years of professional football ahead of him still. But he will need to stay clear of further injuries, and he might need to move to a higher-profile club than Wigan, whose goal Kirkland was in when they were annihilated 9-1 at Tottenham in November 2009 but who was luckily missing when Wigan suffered a similar eight-goal mauling at Chelsea on the final day of the Premier League season.
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