Neil Kilkenny

Neil Martin Kilkenny (born 19 December 1985) is an English-born Australia national football (soccer) teamn association footballer who plays for Leeds United A.F.C.. He is an attacking midfielder.

Career

Born in Enfield, Middlesex, Kilkenny started his career as a youth player at Arsenal F.C. before leaving for Birmingham City F.C. in January 2004. Unable to break into the first team at Birmingham, he was loaned to League One Oldham Athletic A.F.C. on 18 November 2004 to gain first-team experience. He made a successful start to his spell at Oldham, bagging a brace of goals in his second game, an away fixture at Bradford City A.F.C.. He played a full part in Oldham's season, taking the free kick which led to the winning goal against Premier League Manchester City F.C. in the FA Cup, and ending up by winning the club's Players' Young Player of the Year award.

At the start of the 2005-06 in English football season he re-joined the Birmingham first team squad. On 20 September 2005, he made his Birmingham first-team debut in the Football League Cup away at Scunthorpe United F.C., coming on as a substitute in the 26th minute to replace Muzzy Izzet and receiving praise from manager Steve Bruce for his display.

Only four days later, on 24 September 2005, he made his full home debut against Liverpool F.C. in the Premier League. He was sent off in the 83rd minute for handling the ball on the line, an incident which handed Liverpool a penalty and a 2–2 draw. Apart from the disappointment of his dismissal, he went on to receive credit from fellow team mates Mikael Forssell and Mario Melchiot for his performance.

On 30 July 2007 he was again loaned to Oldham, the loan period to run at least until 1 January 2008,
but the move was blocked following the collapse of Birmingham's purchase of Hossam Ghaly.
However the loan was finally confirmed on 11 August 2007.

When Kilkenny's loan at Oldham expired, he returned to Birmingham City. On 4 January 2008 he signed for Leeds United A.F.C. on an emergency loan, with a view to ensuring his availability for the next day's game prior to completing a permanent transfer the following week. He made his debut in the 3–0 win over Northampton Town F.C., putting in an impressive performance to get the man of the match award. Kilkenny signed a three-and-a-half year permanent contract with Leeds on 7 January 2008 for a fee of £150,000. He scored his first goal for the club in their 2-0 win against A.F.C. Bournemouth, in March 2008.

National team

Kilkenny was born in England but moved to Australia with his family at a young age and grew up in Brisbane, Australia. He was eligible to play internationally for Australian national football team, English national football team and Republic of Ireland national football team. Shortly before the 2006 FIFA World Cup he committed to play for Australia. He was among a group of young players, selected by manager Guus Hiddink, who trained with the Australian squad in Holland and Germany prior to the tournament. Kilkenny made his international debut for Australia on 7 June 2006, coming on as a late substitute in their 3–1 victory in a World Cup warm-up game against Liechtenstein national football team in Ulm, Germany.

In 2007 he played a vital role with the Australia national under-23 football team in their 2008 AFC Men's Pre-Olympic Tournament.
In June 2008 he was one of 33 players called up for a pre-Olympic training camp prior to selection of the final 18-man squad.