Kevin Kyle

Kevin Kyle

Personal information
Height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Position(s)	Striker
Team information
Current team	Coventry City
Number	25

Kevin Kyle (born June 7, 1981 in Stranraer) is a Scottish football striker, who plays for English Championship side Coventry City.

Playing career

Kyle began his career at Sunderland, where he was a prolific scorer for their reserves. However, he was unable to force his way into the first team, boasting the striking talent of Kevin Phillips and Niall Quinn. Instead, he spent time on loan at several lower league clubs to gain first team experience with limited success.

After finally breaking into the Sunderland first team in the 2003/04 season he ended up as their joint top goalscorer with 16 goals to help them to the play-offs. However, he missed most of the following season owing to a hip injury and his recovery was aided by visits to Bayern Munich doctor Hans-Wilhelm Müller-Wohlfarth. He returned to first team action in February 2006, scoring his first and only Premier League goal in March 2006, away to Manchester City, in a season that saw Sunderland relegated on a then-record low points tally (subsequently beaten by Derby County).

Kyle joined Coventry City on August 25 2006 for £600,000, but only went on to score 3 goals during the campaign.

During the 2007/08 season, he was sent off twice and became a subject of abuse from the majority of the Coventry City support due to his relatively poor football abillities and reported £8k a week wages which is a figure many find hard to justify for a club in finacial trouble. At the end of the 2007/2008 season Kevin Kyle was voted as the winner of the "As useful as Julian Derby/David Rennie" award by the fans. He was subsequently loaned out to Wolverhampton Wanderers for the rest of the season in the January transfer window, where he linked up with his former Sunderland manager Mick McCarthy. Mick McCarthy was expected to make the signing permanent as he had previously some how got the best out of Kyle where he scored a goal almost every 9 games, but Kyle was deemed not good enough.

Kyle has recently been told that his services at Coventry are no longer required, with Leyton Orient and Brighton and Hove Albion reportedly leading the chase for his signature.

Kyle has been capped by Scotland on eight occasions, stepping up from the Under 21 side. He made his international debut on May 16, 2002, as a substitute in a 4-1 friendly loss to South Korea. One week later, he played and scored in a 4-0 success over a Hong Kong League XI. However, this is not recognised by FIFA as an official international. All his appearances for the full team came under Berti Vogts and he has not been selected since his departure in 2004.

Off the field incidents

During a trip with the Scotland Under 21 side, he destroyed his hotel room. The incident prompted manager Craig Brown refuse to select him again during his tenure.

In the early hours of October 8, 2006, Kyle was arrested in Stranraer after a brawl. On March 12 2007, he was convicted of two breaches of the peace in relation to the arrest, and sentenced to 120 hours' community service on April 3 2007. A month earlier, Kyle had received a six month driving ban in relation to charges of driving without due care and attention on the A75 near Newton Stewart on September 1, 2006.

In 2006 Kyle received the dubious nickname of "Scaldin' Balls" from the Daily Mirror, a parody of David Beckham's "golden balls" nickname, after Kyle missed one of Sunderland's matches after scalding his testicles with boiling water whilst feeding his young son.

External links

• Official club profile
• Kevin Kyle at Soccerbase