OTD: KEVIN KILBANE BORN

On this day in 1977, former Sunderland left back/midfielder Kevin Kilbane was born in Preston. He played 124 times for the club between 1999 and 2003, scoring nine goals.

Kilbane began his career with Preston North End and played a role in getting them out of the fourth tier in 1996. After an additional season with his home-town club in the third tier, he was picked up by second tier West Bromwich Albion for a then club record fee of £1 million in 1997. He’d be with the Baggies for the next two-and-a-half seasons, clearly impressing once more as Premier League Sunderland forked out £2.5 million for his signature in December 1999.

That made him our third most expensive signing ever at the time and he made an immediate impact, putting in a cross for Kevin Phillips’ second goal in a 2-0 home win against Southampton on his debut. However, that was to be the brightest moment for SAFC until we finally won another game in March of 2000, beating Everton. That poor run of form was nicknamed the Curse of Kilbane. In February of that year he did assist a late equaliser against Newcastle United though, as we drew 2-2 from 2-0 down. Kilbane’s first goal for the club came in April, scoring with less than ten minutes to go to ensure we beat Wimbledon 2-1.

The following season, he netted in wins against Derby County, Southampton and Charlton Athletic as we completed back-to-back seventh place finishes in the top flight. However, as our form declined in the 2001/02 season and we collapsed to finish 17th, Kilbane’s form also declined and his relationship with the fans suffered as a result. In pre-season 2002 in France, he infamously gave the Sunderland following a two-fingered salute. This wasn’t the end of his time on Wearside however.

He played another 34 times during our relegation season of 2002/03. His final goal for the Lads came in January 2003, scoring in a 2-1 defeat to Everton. After a handful of additional appearances in the First Division for us, he moved upwards back to the top league with the blue half of Merseyside for just under £1 million in summer 2003 and was reunited with his boss at Preston and future Sunderland manager, David Moyes.

Highly versatile at Everton, he was popular and made over 100 appearances during his three-year stint. In August 2006 he transferred to Wigan Athletic, also in the Premier League at the time, and he fared well there too. He ended his over two-and-a-half year goal drought at a club level in April 2007 and was named their Player of the Season in the 2007/08 campaign.

In January 2009 he moved to Hull City for £500,000, spending his first season-and-a-half in the Premier League prior to their relegation in 2010. His last two seasons on Humberside were mostly spent out on loan, firstly with League One Huddersfield Town and then Championship Derby. Kilbane’s final club was Coventry City in the third tier, moving there in July 2012. Despite being named as their captain, he retired just under halfway into the season.

Internationally, he earned 110 caps for the Republic of Ireland (both his parents are Irish) and scored eight times and was named the Senior FAI Player of the Year in 2004. He’s done quite a bit since hanging up his boots, working as a pundit and commentator for both club and international football, including for major international tournaments such as the World Cup and European Championship. Kilbane also appeared on Dancing on Ice and moved to Canada, plus he’s a patron of the Down’s Syndrome Association. In 2014, he donned a Sunderland shirt once more, playing in Jody Craddock's testimonial match.