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Kevin Kilbane
Personal information
Full name	Kevin Kilbane
Date of birth	February 1, 1977 (age 30)
Place of birth	Preston, England
Nickname	Killa, KilBAM, Zinedine Kilbane
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Wigan Athletic
Number	8
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1995–97 1997–99 1999–2003 2003–06 2006–present	Preston North End West Bromwich Albion Sunderland Everton Wigan Athletic	048 0(3) 106 (15) 113 0(8) 104 0(4) 026 0(0)
National team2
1997–present	Republic of Ireland	078 0(7)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 08:09, 20 March 2007 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 12:00, 29 March 2007 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

Kevin Kilbane (born February 1, 1977 in Preston, England) is an Irish footballer who plays a left-sided midfielder for Wigan Athletic in the FA Premier League. He plays international football for the Republic of Ireland through Irish parentage.

Contents 1 Club career 2 International career 3 References 4 External links

Kilbane, affectionately know an KilBAM by his fans, 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 in spite of some reluctance on the part of Preston manager David Moyes, he was sold to West Bromwich Albion for a fee of £1m in 1997.

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.

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.

On the last day of the transfer window at the start of the 2003/2004 season, Kilbane moved to Everton for just under £1m, 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 August 31, 2006, Kilbane signed a three-year deal with Wigan Athletic for an estimated fee of £2 million.^[2] He has not proved popular with Wigan fans due to his lacklustre performances.

Having made his international debut against Iceland.^[3] on September 9, 1997, Kilbane has become a stalwart for the Republic Of Ireland winning more than 70 caps for his country.

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 last 16 where they were unlucky to lose out to Spain in a penalty shootout. One of the Irish penalties was taken, and missed, by Kilbane.

He is however, jokingly known by the Irish supporters as "Zinedine Kilbane" as a mockery rhyme to the famous Zinedine Zidane. There were at one point t-shirts with this printed on it for sale outside Lansdowne Road after international matches.

Kilbane scored his first international goal in nearly four years with a magnificent strike against the Czech Republic on October 11, 2006, restoring some pride to the national side.

• Kevin Kilbane career stats at Soccerbase

	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

Wigan Athletic F.C. - Current Squad
1 Filan | 2 Granqvist | 4 Jackson | 5 Hall | 6 de Zeeuw | 7 Camara | 8 Kilbane | 9 Heskey | 10 McCulloch | 11 Johansson | 12 Pollitt | 13 Kirkland | 14 Landzaat | 15 Aghahowa | 16 Valencia | 17 Boyce | 18 Scharner | 19 Taylor | 20 Folan | 21 Cywka | 22 Cotterill | 24 Skoko | 25 Unsworth | 26 Baines | 28 Nash | 31 Montrose | 32 Owens | 36 Waterhouse | Manager: Jewell