Official Site of the 2008 Australian Olympic Team: Athletes: The Team: Neil Kilkenny

NEIL KILKENNY

QUIRKY STUFF
Proudest Moment	Making my debut in the Premiership for Birmingham City against Liverpool in 2005 and debuting for the Socceroos against Liechenstein in 2006.
Perfect holiday	Back to Brisbane with girlfriend and family.
Dream car	Bentley Continental
Finest sportsperson	Paul Gasgoine
Best sport team	Manchester United when they won the treble
Inspiration	My mum and dad because of all their support over the years.
Star sign	Sagittarius
Superstition/s	Always kiss the ring from my girlfriend when i take it off before a game.
Tattooes/Piercings	Ear pierced.
I began this sport . . .	when i was five playing in my brother's under seven team in Brisbane.
Participation in other sports	Pool and table tennis.
When I am not training/competing I am . . .	playing Playstation.
Childhood ambition	To become a professional footballer and play in the Premiership.
Favourite Food	Spaghetti Bolognaise

Event	Football - Men
Position	Midfielder
Date of Birth	19 Dec 1985
Age at start of Games	22
Born	London, England
Lives	Birmingham, England
Height	177cm
Weight	70kg

Club	Leeds United,
Coach(es)	Gary McAllister (2008 - present) Graham Arnold (2007 - present)
Olympic Games	Debut

Education

Secondary Education: Ravenscroft, England

Career Highlights

Debut for Birmingham City in the Premier League against Liverpool in front of 35,000 people at St Andrews.

Making debut for Australia against Liechtenstein in a World Cup warm-up match in 2006.

Recent Performances

lost 0-1 (U23) 2008 Friendly v China (Changchun, China)

Draw 1-1 (U23) - Friendly v Chile (Darwin, Australia)

Lost 4-3 (U23) - Friendly v Chile (Darwin, Australia)

Lost 1-0 (Snr) – 2008 World Cup Qualification v China (Sydney, Australia)

1st Grp A (U23) – 2007 Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament

Interesting Facts

As a youth player, Neil started his career with English club Arsenal before leaving for Birmingham City in January 2004. He spent the first year of his Birmingham contract on loan to Oldham Athletic, gaining some important first-team experience. In 2005, Neil made his Birmingham first-team debut in the League Cup and then made his full home debut against Liverpool in the Premier League. After a successful couple of years with the club, he was again loaned to Oldham Athletic in 2007.

An emergency loan to Leeds United in January 2008 saw Neil complete a permanent transfer to the club after just one game.

In 2006, faced with the eligibility to play internationally for either Australia or England, Neil committed to play for Australia. He was selected by then senior national team head coach Guus Hiddink to train with the Australian squad in the lead up to the World Cup. He made his debut along with a small group of other young promising players, in a warm-up match against Liechtenstein which the team won 3-1.

Neil was again selected with a small group from the under 23 squad to play for the senior team in June 2008. The match was a World Cup qualifier against China, played in Sydney.

Neil played with the U23 team in the 2007 Olympic Qualification tournament and will be an integral midfielder in Beijing.

Neil was born in England but moved to Australia with his family at a young age, growing up in Brisbane. When he was 11-years-old he returned back to England. After his football career is finished, he would like to move back to Australia.