Christopher Edmund Kirkland was born on the 2nd of May 1981 in Barwell, Leicestershire. Competing for a place in the village youth sides he wanted to be a goalkeeper but wasn't considered good enough and found himself languishing on the subs' bench as an outfield player. However, returning from 12 hour shifts as a crane driver, his father Eddie would take him out on to the 'Barwell Rec' for training sessions. Chris says, "There'd be shots, crosses and work with my feet. He never pushed me into it, but he wanted me to have the chance if I wanted it." His persistence was worth it as he forced his way into the Blaby & Whetstone junior side as a goalkeeper.
Training with Coventry City and Leicester City, he would also travel with his father, who had been very ill, to Anfield. A trial with Blackburn didn't work out but there were offers from both Midlands clubs and, though his father was a Leicester fan, Coventry seemed more positive, so he signed professional terms with them in July 1998. There he encountered individuals who became giants in his development: Steve Ogrizovic, Jim Blyth and Gordon Strachan, whose decision to blood him at 19 made a real statement about his talents. His performances were rewarded at the end of the 2000-01 season when he made his debut for the England under-21s and was voted Coventry's Players' Player of the Year by his teammates. Linked with both Arsenal and Liverpool, he was eventually bought by Liverpool for £6 million in August 2001, which, at the time made him the most expensive goalkeeper in British transfer history at only 20 years old. With big predictions in the late 1990s, when the Under-21 coach David Platt described him as the "best young keeper in the world", and Sven Goran Eriksson described him as "the future of English goalkeeping", few English goalkeepers have carried such a weight of expectation as he did when Gérard Houllier signed him from Coventry.
There were some great nights for him at Liverpool, not least the 1-1 draw at Galatasaray, a regular place in the England squad, and a second-half substitute's appearance against Greece in August 2006 which settled the now legendary bet, laid at William Hill by Eddie Kirkland and eight of his mates, which put them all in line for £10,000 if Chris ever played in the side. But then Rafael Benitez arrived at Liverpool with the goalkeeping coach Jose Ochotorena, whose ideas baffled Chris. "I grew up on hard work with Jim [Blyth] and Oggie [Steve Ogrizovic]. I liked high repetitions and I really slogged myself and that is what made me tick. But the Spaniards didn't believe in pushing you that hard. I went to see Benitez loads of times and said, 'I want more work', and he said, 'Why do you want more work?' and I said, 'It's just the way I've always been, I need to feel right'. But it was always, 'No, no, no." Injuries hampered his time at Anfield as he sustained an ankle injury in January 2003, which ruled him out for the rest of the season. Then he spent six weeks out of action after tearing his groin whilst on England under-21 duty in September 2003 and then he fractured a finger in December 2003, ruling him out of action for four months after undergoing surgery to repair it. Managing to oust Jerzy Dudek as first-choice Liverpool keeper at the beginning of the 2004-05 season, he played 14 matches before he was again sidelined in December after succumbing to a long-standing back injury. In July 2005 he agreed to go on a season-long to West Bromwich Albion but again injury saw him being replaced there and he knew that his time at Anfield was up, when after only 25 appearances, Rafael Benitez told him that he would have to move away if he wanted to play regular first-team football. This saw him join Wigan Athletic, initially on loan in 2006, then permanent, for a sum of £2.5 million and he won the club's Players' Player of the Year and Media Player of the Year awards for the 2007-08 season. After loan periods, following a back spasm, he left to join Sheffield Wednesday but following his departure from Wigan, Chris began to experience the weight of depression suffering with back spasms. Eager to continue playing, he resorted to taking Tramadol, a painkiller regularly prescribed to footballers. Not only did the pills alleviate his back pain, but they also eased the anxiety triggered by travelling away from his family. Regrettably, what was initially intended as a remedy for pain, spiralled into a decade-long struggle with painkiller addiction, leaving him with frequent hallucinations, severe illness, and suicidal thoughts. He credits his wife and daughter’s constant support as the only thing that kept him from giving in to despair. Joining Preston North End in August 2015, he had a brief spell with Bury before retiring in August 2016.
Chris works for a charity in his local community and remains a visitor to Anfield, the ground he first went to as a seven-year-old on the Kop before signing for the club in 2001. A sad end to the career of a player who was identified at an early age as a goalkeeper with an "uncommon mixture of height, agility and bravery."
see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2024/09/footballs-nearly-men-ibrahim-afellay.html
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