Chris Kirkland

Chris Edmund “Chris” Kirlkand is an English football player who currently features for the English Premier League club Wigan Athletic. He plays as a goalkeeper and was once regarded as a future number one for England.

Chris Kirkland started his club professional football career at Coventry City in England in 1999 and played for them for two seasons, featuring in 24 league encounters.

At the start of the 2001-2002 season Chris Kirkland was signed by Premiership giants Liverpool for 6 million pounds, making him the then most expensive goalkeeper in British transfer history. All this when he was just 20 years of age.

Chris Kirkland made his debut for Liverpool against Galatasaray in the UEFA Champions League but failed to secure his first team place and was relegated to the second and at times third choice position. He even spent one season on loan at West Bromwich Albion in 2005-2006 season and also played for some time in 2006 for Wigan Athletic.

At the end of the 2005-2006 season, Chris Kirkland left Liverpool for good, having been injured for good fraction of his tenure at Anfield and having played just 25 league matches.

At Wigan Kirkland became a first choice but he has never quite matches the potential that he exhibited during his youth. He was however the club’s Players’ Player of the Year and Media Player of the Year in the 2007-2008 season and signed a new deal at Wigan in the summer of 2008 that shall take him through at the JJ Stadium until 2012.

Chris Kirkland has played just one international match for England so far and that came in 2006.