Neil Kilkenny

Neil Martin Kilkenny (born 19 December 1985) is a professional footballer who last played for Perth Glory. A midfielder, he began his career in the youth system at Arsenal, and went on to play league football for Oldham Athletic, Birmingham City, Leeds United, Bristol City, Preston North End and Melbourne City before joining Perth Glory in 2018.

Kilkenny was born in England, has Irish grandparents, and was raised in Australia. He played youth international football for both England and Ireland before committing to Australia. He has 14 caps for Australia, and competed for the country at the 2008 Olympics.

Club Career

Birmingham City and loans

Kilkenny signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with Birmingham. The club's academy director felt he had "the ability to play at the highest level", and prioritised adding a "work ethic and competitiveness" to his "great technique". The player travelled with the first team for the game at Charlton Athletic in April 2004, but was not included in the matchday squad. Perceived as not ready for the first team at Premier League level, he was loaned to League One club Oldham Athletic in November 2004 to gain first-team experience. He made his debut in the Football League as a second-half substitute in Oldham's 3–2 win at home to Barnsley on 20 November, and scored two goals in his second game, a 3–1 win away to Bradford City, four days later. He played a full part in Oldham's season: he took the free kick which led to the winning goal against Premier League Manchester City in the FA Cup, and ended up as winner of the club's Players' Young Player of the Season award.

At the start of the 2005–06 season he became part of the Birmingham first-team squad, though manager Steve Bruce warned him that he would not easily find his way into the team. On 20 September 2005, he made his Birmingham first-team debut in the League Cup away at Scunthorpe United, as a 26th-minute substitute to replace the injured Muzzy Izzet. Four days later, with six

This page also has a version in other languages :  Нил Килкенни (russian)