Kilkenny: Neil
2008-Current
(Player Details)
Midfield
Born: Enfield: 19-12-1985
Debut: v Northampton Town (h): 05-01-2008
5’8” 10st 8lb (2007)
Born in Enfield, Middlesex, Kilkenny started his career as a youth player at Arsenal
before leaving for Birmingham City in January 2004. Unable to break into the first team at
Birmingham, he was loaned to League One side, Oldham Athletic on 18th 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. He played a full part in
Oldham's season, taking the free kick which led to the winning goal against Premier League
Manchester City in the FA Cup, and ending up by winning the club's Players' Young Player of
the Year award. He played thirty-four games, of which three were off the bench and scored
five goals in his first spell with the Latics. He re-joined the Birmingham first team squad
at the start of the 2005-06 season. On 20th September 2005, he made his Birmingham
first-team debut in the League Cup away at Scunthorpe United, coming on as a substitute in
the twenty-sixth minute to replace Muzzy Izzet and receiving praise from manager Steve
Bruce for his display. Only four days later, on 24th September 2005, he made his full home
debut against Liverpool in the EPL. He was sent off in the eighty-third 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 30th July 2007, he was
again loaned to Oldham, the loan period to run at least until 1st January 2008, but the
move was blocked following the collapse of Birmingham's purchase of Hossam Ghaly. However
the loan was finally confirmed on 11th August 2007. When Kilkenny's loan at Oldham expired,
he returned to Birmingham City. In his time at Birmingham he made thirty-nine appearances,
twenty-nine of which were from the bench. In his second spell at Oldham he made twenty-four
starts and one game off the bench, scoring three goals. On 4th January 2008 he signed for
Leeds United 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, 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 7th January 2008 for a fee of £150,000. He settled in well with Leeds and up to the end
of the 2008-09 season he had been a regular unless injured, but with the start of the new
season he found himself on the substitute bench and by the end of September had still to
feature in the starting eleven. He played his first game in the run-on team against top of
the table rivals Charlton Athletic on 3rd October 2009 and soon struck good form, and was
part of the team that carried all before it for the next few months. The team lost its way
and after injury Kilkenny found himself on the bench for a while. However he returned to
form and was a regular in the final two months of the campaign, when promotion was assured.
Although Kilkenny was born in England, he moved to Australia with his family at a young age
and grew up in Brisbane. He was eligible to play internationally for Australia, England and
Ireland. Shortly before the 2006 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 7th June 2006, coming on as a late substitute in their 3–1 victory in a
World Cup warm-up game against Liechtenstein in Ulm, Germany. In 2007 he played a vital role
with the Australian Olyroos in their 2008 Beijing Olympics qualifying campaign, in which he
played in four matches.He has been capped twice by Australia in full Internationals and
played ten times for the Under-twenty-three side. He has yet to score an International goal.