Kevin Gallen

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Personal information
Kevin Gallen
Full name	Kevin Gallen
Date of birth	21 September 1975
Place of birth	Chiswick, England
Height	5' 11"
Position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Queens Park Rangers
Number	10
Professional clubs*
Years	Club	Apps (goals)
1992-2000 2000-2001 2001 2001-	QPR Huddersfield Town Barnsley QPR	172 (36) 38 (10) 9 (2) 189 (54)
* Professional club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 29/11/06.

Kevin Gallen, born Chiswick 21st September, 1975, is an English professional footballer who plays for QPR.

Kevin is a former England U21 striker who signed professional for Rangers on his 17th birthday after setting phenomenal scoring records for the Youth Team. Kevin scored 153 goals in 110 appearances, breaking Jimmy Greaves' long-standing record at that level.

He made his League debut at Old Trafford on the opening day of the 1994/95 season and later went on to form an irresistible partnership with Les Ferdinand scoring more than ten goals that season. Kevin's form dipped after Les departed and scored very few goals.

Kevin was unfortunate to sustain a serious knee injury whilst scoring the winning goal against Portsmouth in 1996 which resulted in him missing the rests of the 1996/97 season. His early form had suggested a return to his best but this was a huge setback.

His return to the team saw many mixed performances but by the 1998/99 season he was looking back to his best form before injuries again held him back and the arrival of Rob Steiner and Chris Kiwomya kept him out of the team.

The 99/00 season was one of his most disappointing. Often playing second fiddle to Kiwomya, Steiner, Slade and Beck, he did manage to score a wonderful winning goal on the last day of the season at the ground where his injury troubles had started, Portsmouth. But he left to find first team football in Huddersfield during the summer. Gallen soon found himself out in the cold again as Huddersfield changed managers and his return to Loftus Road saw him score but then miss a penalty much to the delight of the QPR fans.

He spent the summer of 2001 training with QPR with a view to joining on a free but wages were a problem and he ended up joining Barnsley. That too proved to be a short term deal and Gallen was back at Loftus Road on November 19th 2001.

Two days after returning to his boyhood club he scored one and set up another in an empahatic 4-0 home win over Swindon, a result which may have saved then manager Ian Holloway's job.

A change in fortunes soon followed for Gallen and QPR, with "Super Kev" earning the club captaincy, netting another 55 goals over the ensuing 5 seasons and helping the club to establish itself back in the second tier of English football. Gallen currently has scored 97 goals for QPR, making him the sixth highest scorer in the club's history.