Christopher Edmund Kirkland (born 2 May 1981 in Barwell, Leicestershire) is an English football goalkeeper. He is currently playing for Wigan Athletic. May 2 is the 122nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (123rd in leap years). ... 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Map sources for Barwell at grid ref. ... Leicestershire (abbreviated Leics) is a landlocked county in central England. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: Multiple unofficial anthems Capital London Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Government Constitutional monarchy  - Queen Queen Elizabeth II  - Prime Minister Tony Blair MP Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq... Football (soccer) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... A football goalkeeper leaves the ground to parry a shot on goal In many team ever known sports, a goalkeeper (termed goaltender, or goalie in some sports) is a designated player that is charged with directly preventing the opposite team from scoring by defending the goal. ... Wigan Athletic Football Club are a professional football team based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. ...

Biography

Kirkland shot to prominence as one of the most promising young English keepers in the country in the 2000-01 season while with his first club, Coventry City. He was bought by Liverpool for £6m on the last day of the transfer windows at the start of the 2001-02 season, as backup for the Reds' other new signing, Jerzy Dudek. The 2000-2001 season was the 121st season of competitive football in England. ... Coventry City Football Club, otherwise known as the Sky Blues owing to the traditional colour of their strip. ... The 2001-2002 season was the 122nd season of competitive football in England. ... Jerzy Jurek Dudek [IPA: jɛʒɨ dudÉ›k] (born March 23, 1973 in Rybnik, Poland) is a Polish football player. ...

Injury to Dudek gave Kirkland his debut in the first team, against Galatasaray in the UEFA Champions League, but he had to wait until the following season for his first run in the team. Costly errors by Dudek in a league fixture against Manchester United handed the jersey to Kirkland for 14 matches, during which he kept 6 clean sheets. However, Kirkland was then himself injured, and a succession of recurring problems has seen him only make sporadic appearances since then. Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (in English: Galatasaray Sports Club) or Galatasaray SK is a Turkish sports club based in İstanbul which is most famous for its football section. ... The UEFA Champions League (which used to be named and is often still called European Cup) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for the most successful football clubs in Europe. ... Manchester United Football Club is a world famous English football club. ...

He won six caps with the England under-21 team and was regularly selected for the senior squad from 2003 on, but did not make an appearance until he came on as a substitute for the second half of a friendly against Greece in August 2006. When Kirkland was eleven years old, his father and some family friends had placed bets of £100 each at 100/1 odds that he would play for England before the age of thirty.^[1] Kirkland's appearance netted the syndicate £10,000 each. First International England U-21 0-0 Wales U-21 (Molineux, Wolverhampton; December 15, 1976) Largest win England U-21 8-1 Finland U-21 (Boothferry Park, Hull; October 12, 1977) Worst defeat Romania U-21 4-0 England U-21 (PloieÅŸti, Romania; October 14, 1980) & England U-21... First international Scotland 0 - 0 England (Partick, Scotland; 30 November 1872) Largest win Ireland 0 - 13 England (Belfast, Ireland; 18 February 1882) Worst defeat Hungary 7 - 1 England (Budapest, Hungary; 23 May 1954) World Cup Appearances 12 (First in 1950) Best result Winners, 1966 European Championship Appearances 7 (First in...

At the beginning of the 2004-05 season, Kirkland found himself with the chance to make an impact on the fortunes of Liverpool and England, having ousted his friend Jerzy Dudek as first-choice Liverpool keeper. His good form and lack of injury was seen as welcome news for Liverpool and England fans. Injury is damage or harm caused to the structure or function of the body caused by an outside agent or force, which may be physical or chemical. ...

2005, however, did not start well for Kirkland, with his Liverpool career once again interrupted by injury. Having begun his Anfield career as the future England Number 1, a series of ineffective performances for the Reds, coupled with a string of injuries, meant that Kirkland had slipped down the goalkeeping pecking order behind Jerzy Dudek and new signing Scott Carson. Jerzy Jurek Dudek [IPA: jɛʒɨ dudɛk] (born March 23, 1973 in Rybnik, Poland) is a Polish football player. ... Scott Carson Scott Carson (born September 3, 1985 in Whitehaven, Cumbria) is an English football goalkeeper, currently playing for Liverpool. ...

In the summer of 2005 Kirkland agreed to go on a season-long loan to West Brom in order to kick-start his career again; he had been moved to fourth in the pecking order, behind new signing Jose Reina, Dudek, and Carson. This move bore immediate fruit for Kirkland as he was called up to replace the increasingly accident prone Manchester City player David James as second-choice keeper for the England squad. An injury to Kirkland in the first half of the season saw Polish goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak replace him and remain West Brom's first choice goalkeeper for the rest of the season. Kirkland then joined Wigan Athletic on a season-long loan for the 2006/07 season, but this was made permament on October 27, 2006 ^[2]. José Manuel Reina Páez (born 31st August 1982 in Madrid), is commonly known as Pepe Reina (his preferred nickname), or José Reina. ... Manchester City Football Club is an English football club based in the city of Manchester. ... David Benjamin James (born August 1, 1970) is an English professional footballer who currently plays for Portsmouth in the English Premier League. ... Tomasz Kuszczak (IPA pronunciation: ) (TOM-ash KOOSH-chack) (born March 20, 1982 in Krosno Odrzańskie, Poland) is a Polish football player, who is an on-loan goalkeeper with the Premiership club Manchester United and the Poland national football team. ... Wigan Athletic Football Club are a football team based in Wigan, England. ... October 27 is the 300th day of the year (301st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 65 days remaining. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Statistics

The FA Premier League (often referred to as the Barclays Premiership in the UK and the Barclays English Premier League internationally) is a league competition for football clubs located at the top of the English football league system (above The Football League), making it Englands primary football competition. ... Note: for the full results of all FA Cup finals, see FA Cup Final The FA Cup - this is the fourth trophy, in use since 1992, and identical in design to the third trophy introduced in 1911. ... The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup, is an English football competition. ... World map showing Europe Political map (neighbouring countries in Asia and Africa also shown) Europe is one of the seven traditional continents of the Earth. ... Wigan Athletic Football Club are a professional football team based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. ... West Bromwich Albion Football Club is an English football club formed by workers from Salters Spring Works in West Bromwich, West Midlands in 1878. ... {{Football club infobox | clubname = Liverpool FC | image = fullname = Liverpool FC | nickname = The Reds | founded = 1892 | ground = Anfield | capacity = 45,000 | chairman = D.R.Moores | Chief Executive Officer = R.N.Parry | manager = Rafael Benitez | league = FA Premiership | season = 2005-06 | position = FA premiership, 5th | pattern_la1=|pattern_b1=|pattern_ra1=| leftarm1=FFFFFF|body1=FF0000... Coventry City Football Club, otherwise known as the Sky Blues due to the traditional colour of their strip (which itself is sky blue in honour of the sky blue cloth traditionally made in the city), are a football team based in Coventry, England. ...

Career Honours

Honours As Player

Coventry City

Runner Up Image File history File links Flag_of_England_(bordered). ...

• 1998-99 FA Youth Cup

The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. ...

Liverpool

Runner Up Image File history File links Flag_of_England_(bordered). ...

• 2002-03 Charity Shield

The FA Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is an English association football trophy. ...

References

1. ^ Betting - it's kid's stuff. BBC News Online (2003-08-19). Retrieved on 2006-08-16.
2. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/w/wigan_athletic/6091824.stm

BBC News Online logo The BBC News Website in February 2006. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... August 19 is the 231st day of the year (232nd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... August 16 is the 228th day of the year (229th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ...

External links

• Chris Kirkland career stats at Soccerbase
• FootballDatabase provides Chris Kirkland's profile and stats
• TheFA.com profile