Matthew Kilgallon

Matthew Kilgallon

Personal information
Full name	Matthew Shaun Kilgallon
Date of birth	8 January 1984
Place of birth	York, England
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Playing position	Centre back/full back
Club information
Current team	Blackburn Rovers
Number	4
Youth career
	Leeds United
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
2002–2007	Leeds United	80	(3)
2003	→ West Ham United (loan)	3	(0)
2007–2010	Sheffield United	107	(4)
2010–2013	Sunderland	23	(0)
2010–2011	→ Middlesbrough (loan)	2	(0)
2011	→ Doncaster Rovers (loan)	12	(0)
2013–	Blackburn Rovers	55	(2)
National team
2004–2005	England U21	5	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 09:43, 24 April 2016 (UTC). † Appearances (goals)

Matthew Shaun Kilgallon (born 8 January 1984) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for Blackburn Rovers. Born in York, Kilgallon began his football career at Leeds United where he came through the youth set up before becoming a fixture in their first-team. He then moved to Sheffield United where he spent three years before moving to Sunderland. With spells on loan at West Ham, Middlesbrough and Doncaster Rovers, he has also made five appearances for the England U21s.

Career

Leeds United

A product of the youth set-up at Leeds, Kilgallon first made a senior appearance for Leeds in 2004, scoring two goals that season and working his way into the England Under-21 set-up. Once Leeds had dropped to the Championship, Killa (his nickname from his team mates) began to make more appearances and held down a more regular place in the 1st eleven. In his first season in the championship, Kilgallon was mainly playing centre back with Paul Butler and Sean Gregan the main centre back partnership. Kilgallon also displaced Clarke Carlisle and Michael Duberry in the pecking order. He played a major role in the club's run through to the 2006 championship play-offs, helping them make the final. Which Leeds lost 3–0 against Watford.

Kilgallon played most of Leeds's matches of the first half of the 2006–07 season under Kevin Blackwell and new manager Dennis Wise's new look Leeds team, keeping experienced centre-backs Paul Butler, Sean Gregan and Hayden Foxe out of the team. Leeds were struggling both on and off the pitch and Kilgallon was also losing form.

Having been the subject of a failed £1 million bid from Premiership side Reading at the start of the 2006–07 season, but Leeds insisted he was not for sale, he was finally transferred to Sheffield United during that season's January transfer window with Leeds needing the funds.

Sheffield United

Kilgallon signed for Sheffield United on 8 January 2007 for £1.75 million rising to £2 million and with a 20% sell on clause.^[1] Despite recovering from an early injury he found it difficult to force himself into Neil Warnock's plans and did not make his first team debut until the 1–0 loss at Bolton on 31 March of that year.^[2]

Having been used sparingly in the Premiership, Kilgallon fared better in the Championship and under new management. Having become first choice in the centre of defence he still had to wait until December 2007 to score a goal for the Blades when he netted the winner in a 1–0 home victory over local rivals Barnsley.^[3] The following season he was virtually ever present in the Blades first team, his importance being highlighted when he was voted Sheffield United Player of the Season at the end of the 2008–09 season.^[4]

Kilgallon started the next season as regular first choice in defence once more, but with his contract due to expire the following summer he rejected new terms with the club meaning his future was dogged by speculation throughout the year.^[5] At the turn of the year however, Kilgallon announced that he intended to remain at Bramall Lane and see out the remainder of his contract^[6] and rejected a move to Premiership Burnley.^[7]

Sunderland

Kilgallon signed for Sunderland on 21 January 2010 on a three-and-a-half-year contract. He made his debut six days later in a 2–0 loss to Everton.^[8] Kilgallon struggled to make an impact during Sunderland's dismal winless run until a man-of-the-match performance against Hull City on 24 April, his first start in months.^[9]

On 20 August, he joined Middlesbrough on loan for the 2010–11 season.^[10] After a man-of-the-match performance at left-back against former club Sheffield United, his loan was cut short by injury. Kilgallon then joined Doncaster Rovers on loan for the rest of the season on 12 January 2011.^[11]

After his loan return from Doncaster Rovers, he was initially not given a squad number for the 2011-12 Premier League season. However, after Steve Bruce was sacked at the end of November, he was given the squad number 12 by new manager Martin O'Neill. He returned to the first-team squad as an unused substitute during Sunderland's 2–1 victory over Blackburn Rovers on 11 December. On 1 January 2012, he made his first Sunderland appearance since May 2010, coming on as a substitute for the injured Wes Brown against Manchester City; Kilgallon helped keep a clean sheet as Sunderland beat the league leaders 1–0.^[12] Two days later, Kilgallon went on to make his first Sunderland start since May 2010, playing alongside John O'Shea in central defence in a 4–1 away win against Wigan Athletic.^[13][14] He was injured by a Fernando Torres challenge during a 1–0 defeat against Chelsea on 15 January^[15] and did not reappear until 31 March, against Manchester City, starting the game in a 3–3 draw.^[16]

During the 2012–13 season, Kilgallon failed to appear in the league until appearing in a 0–0 home draw to Queens Park Rangers on 27 November. After featuring in Sunderland's 3–0 loss at Liverpool in January he did not feature again under Martin O'Neill, but returned to the starting line up for Paolo Di Canio's first game in charge, at Chelsea, and unluckily scored an own goal as Sunderland lost 2–1.

Kilgallon moved from Sunderland at the end of the 2012–13 season to Blackburn Rovers.

Blackburn Rovers

On 8 July 2013 Kilgallon completed a move to Blackburn Rovers on a free transfer, signing a two-year deal.^[17] He made his first start for the club in a 2–1 loss to Wigan Athletic as the captain Scott Dann was injured. In July 2015, he signed a new one-year deal at Blackburn.^[18]

Statistics

As of match played on 11 March 2015

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Leeds United	2002–03[19]	Premier League	2	0	0	0	0	0	1[lower-alpha 1]	0	–		3	0
	2003–04[20]	Premier League	8	2	1	0	0	0	–				9	2
	2004–05[21]	Championship	26	0	1	0	1	0	–				28	0
	2005–06[22]	Championship	25	1	2	0	3	0	–		3[lower-alpha 2]	0	33	1
	2006–07[23]	Championship	19	0	0	0	3	0	–				22	0
	Total		80	3	4	0	7	0	1	0	3	0	95	3
West Ham United (loan)	2003–04	Championship	3	0	0	0	1	0	–				4	0
Sheffield United	2006–07	Premier League	6	0	0	0	0	0	–				6	0
	2007–08[24]	Championship	40	2	3	0	3	0	–				46	2
	2008–09[25]	Championship	40	1	3	0	3	0	–		3[lower-alpha 2]	0	49	1
	2009–10[26]	Championship	21	1	1	0	1	0	–				23	1
	Total		107	4	7	0	7	0	–		3	0	124	4
Sunderland	2009–10	Premier League	7	0	0	0	0	0	–				7	0
	2011–12[27]	Premier League	10	0	1	0	0	0	–				11	0
	2012–13[28]	Premier League	6	0	1	0	1	0	–				8	0
	Total		23	0	2	0	1	0	–				26	0
Middlesbrough (loan)	2010–11[29]	Championship	2	0	0	0	1	0	–				3	0
Doncaster Roovers (loan)	2010–11	Championship	12	0	0	0	0	0	–				12	0
Blackburn Rovers	2013–14[30]	Championship	25	1	1	0	0	0	–				26	1
	2014–15[31]	Championship	22	1	5	0	0	0	–				27	1
	Total		47	2	6	0	0	0	–				53	2
Career total			274	9	19	0	17	0	1	0	6	0	316	9

1. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
2. Appearances in Football League Championship play-offs

References

1. "Blades sign Kilgallon from Leeds". BBC Sport. 8 January 2007. Retrieved 30 November 2007.
2. May, John (31 March 2007). "Bolton 1–0 Sheff Utd". BBC Sport. Retrieved 30 November 2007.
3. "Sheff Utd 1–0 Barnsley". BBC Sport. 15 December 2007. Retrieved 16 December 2007.
4. "Killa and Kyle Win Awards". Sheffield United F.C. 6 April 2009. Retrieved 16 August 2009.
5. "Killa to go from Sheffield United". The Sheffield Star. 18 December 2009. Retrieved 19 December 2009.
6. "Window of hope as Killa 'happy to stay'". The Sheffield Star. 7 January 2010. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
7. "Kilgallon delay a boost for Blades". The Sheffield Star. 15 January 2010. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
8. "Sheffield Utd's Matthew Kilgallon seals Sunderland move". BBC Sport. 21 January 2010. Retrieved 21 January 2010.
9. "Team news from the KC Stadium | Latest Sunderland News | Team & Transfer News | Sunderland AFC | Sunderland". Safc.com. 24 April 2010. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
10. "Boro in Talks Over Matt Loan | News | Team | My Boro | Middlesbrough". Mfc.co.uk. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
11. "BBC Sport – Football – Doncaster Rovers snap up defender Matthew Kilgallon". BBC News. 12 January 2011. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
12. Alistair, Magowan. "Sunderland 1–0 Manchester City". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 January 2012.
13. "Team news from Lancashire". safc.com. 3 January 2012. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
14. "Wigan Athletic 1 Sunderland 4". safc.com. 3 January 2012. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
15. "Chelsea 1–0 Sunderland". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 April 2012.
16. "Man City 3–3 Sunderland". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 April 2012.
17. "Blackburn Rovers sign Matt Kilgallon on free transfer". BBC Sport. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
18. "One change for Rovers as Matt Kilgallon makes his first start for the club.". Rovers. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
19. "Matches played by Matt Kilgallon in 2002–03". Soccerbase. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
20. "Matches played by Matt Kilgallon in 2003–04". Soccerbase. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
21. "Matches played by Matt Kilgallon in 2004–05". Soccerbase. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
22. "Matches played by Matt Kilgallon in 2005–06". Soccerbase. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
23. "Matches played by Matt Kilgallon in 2006–07". Soccerbase. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
24. "Matches played by Matt Kilgallon in 2007–08". Soccerbase. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
25. "Matches played by Matt Kilgallon in 2008–09". Soccerbase. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
26. "Matches played by Matt Kilgallon in 2009–10". Soccerbase. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
27. "Matches played by Matt Kilgallon in 2011–12". Soccerbase. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
28. "Matches played by Matt Kilgallon in 2012–13". Soccerbase. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
29. "Matches played by Matt Kilgallon in 2010–11". Soccerbase. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
30. "Matches played by Matt Kilgallon in 2013–14". Soccerbase. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
31. "Matches played by Matt Kilgallon in 2014–15". Soccerbase. Retrieved 9 August 2014.

External links

• Matthew Kilgallon player profile at sufc.co.uk
• Matthew Kilgallon career statistics at Soccerbase