Player Profile

A towering goalkeeper who graduated from Coventry's youth academy and made his first-team debut for the Sky Blues on 22 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 24 May 2001 against Mexico. After only 28 appearances for Coventry he was signed by Liverpool on the same day Feyenoord goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek was brought to Anfield. Kirkland only started four games in his debut season but after Dudek's clanger against Manchester United at Anfield on 7 December 2002 he was finally given a proper chance. Houllier challenged Kirkland to fulfil his promise: "Chris has the potential to reach the top level with England,'' said 'le boss'. "He is a good shot-stopper and is good at getting down quickly for a big 'keeper, but what I like best about him is that he is brave. These days talent does not wait. Look at Tiger Woods in golf and how Martina Hingis was in tennis, as well as at Michael Owen here at Liverpool. We are living in an age where the young take the power quickly.'' Kirkland helped Liverpool into the League Cup final before suffering a serious knee injury in the fourth round of the FA Cup that enabled Dudek to go back into the starting line-up. Another way below-par performance by Dudek against United at Anfield where Giggs scored a couple gave Kirkland another run in the side in the 2003/04 season. He held on to his starting berth for a month before breaking his finger against Bolton at Anfield. The goalkeepers were playing their own version of hokey cokey and Paul Jones was even brought in as an emergency 'keeper in January 2004 as both Kirkland and Dudek were out injured. Kirkland's second spell in the first eleven that campaign only lasted five games this time around before another injury ended his season in March.

Kirkland had his longest spell as Liverpool's number one from October - December 2004 before a series of mistakes led to him being axed from the side. The arrival of Scott Carson from Leeds in January 2005 finally ended Kirkland's once-promising Anfield career. After being loaned to West Brom, who got relegated from the Premier League in the 2005/06 season, his career was resurrected at Wigan Athletic. Kirkland 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. Eddie Kirkland was delighted:"He was 14 or 15 at the time and my family, friends and work colleagues put a bet of £100 at 100/1 and it has come good tonight. Absolutely fantastic." Bookmakers William Hill confirmed Eddie had staked £98.10 with the firm at 100/1, and would receive a cheque for £9,908.10.

The injury-prone Kirkland would still get niggles but played regularly for four seasons with Wigan but failed to add to his one full England cap. Kirkland lost his place in the Wigan team to the Omani Ali Al-Habsi following two heavy defeats at the start of the 2010/11 season. He went briefly on loan to his hometown club, Leicester City, playing in three matches. After returning to Wigan his injury jinx struck again when he was carried off on a stretcher after a collision with Bolton's Johan Elmander early in January 2011. In October 2011 Kirkland joined Championship club Doncaster Rovers, but he... yes, you guessed it... suffered a back injury on his debut!  At the end of the 2011/12 season it was announced that the now 31-year-old goalkeeper would be joining Sheffield Wednesday prior to the 2012/13 season. Kirkland was in the headlines when he was struck in the face and knocked to the ground by an invading Leeds fan in the Yorkshire derby on 19 October 2012 at Hillsborough. Leeds had just equalised 1-1 in the seventy-seventh minute." After conceding the goal, I was looking at the ground but when I looked up, I caught a glimpse of someone coming towards me," Kirkland said. "I thought he was going to give me some abuse but then suddenly he came at me with both hands and I was stunned, you never know what could have been in his hands. Later on I thought of my family watching something like that and it was not nice to think my daughter saw me assaulted like that."

Kirkland was a regular first-team goalkeeper in 2012/13. His seventh different English club, Sheffield Wednesday, ended the season in 18th position in The Championship division. In 2013/14 he played in 35 of Wednesday's 46 matches in The Championship as the Owls improved their finishing position by two places. Kirkland also played at Rotherham in the League Cup second round when a capacity crowd at the New York Stadium saw the hosts defeat their Yorkshire neighbours by two goals to one. in the summer of 2015, after 98 league appearances for Wednesday, he joined Preston North End where he was second choice. All of his five league appearances came towards the end of the season and in June 2016 he signed a one year deal with Bury. In August Kirkland left Bury without playing a game, saying he needs time away from football, citing personal reasons. He would later open up that this was due to his ongoing battle with depression.