Gábor Király

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Personal information
Gábor Király
Full name	Gábor Király
Date of birth	April 1, 1976 (age 31)
Place of birth	Szombathely, Hungary
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club	Crystal Palace
Number	28
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1993-1997 1997-2004 2004-present 2006 2006-2007	Szombathelyi Haladás Hertha BSC Berlin Crystal Palace → West Ham United (loan) → Aston Villa (loan)	068 (0) 198 (0) 0102 (0) 000 (0) 005 (0)
National team²
1998-present	Hungary	065 (0)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 14:18, 7 April 2007 (UTC). ² National team caps and goals correct as of 28/03/2007. * Appearances (Goals)

Gábor Király (born April 1, 1976) (IPA: [gaːbor kir̪̪aːj]) is a Hungarian footballer who is goalkeeper for Crystal Palace, where he wears the number 28 shirt.

Born in Szombathely, Király began his career with local club Szombathelyi Haladás in 1993, moving to German Bundesliga club Hertha Berlin in 1997. At Hertha, he was initially the second-choice keeper, but after a negative streak of seven matches without a win, he was chosen over the first-choice goalkeeper Christian Fiedler for Hertha's home match against 1. FC Köln on 28 September 1997 in which they managed their first Bundesliga victory that season. He subsequently became the first-choice keeper and left Fiedler without a single Bundesliga appearance for more than two years, until February 2000, when he had to miss seven Bundesliga matches due to an injury. He also appeared in 10 UEFA Champions League matches for Hertha in the 1999-2000 season of the competition.

However, after Hans Meyer was named the new Hertha coach in the winter break of the 2003-04 Bundesliga season, Király lost his place in the starting line-up and Fiedler was named the first-choice keeper after spending most of the previous six years on the bench. Király was then told his contract would only be renewed if he took a pay cut. In the spring of 2004, he only played the last 14 minutes of Hertha's final Bundesliga match of the season, against 1. FC Köln. Interestingly, he made his Bundesliga debut against the same club in 1997.

Crystal Palace took advantage of the situation and made Király their first signing for the 2004-05 season. They signed Argentine goalkeeper Julián Speroni later that pre-season and it was he who was initially installed as the first-choice keeper. Király made his debut for Palace in the Carling Cup game at home to Hartlepool United where his performance, along with the poor form of Speroni, resulted in his promotion to the first choice in Palace goal. He stayed in the first team for over 12 months before being rested over the Christmas period in 2005, making 32 Premiership appearances before Palace were relegated back to the Championship following the 2004-05 season. After the rest, he went straight back into the Palace side, and kept his place for the remainder of the 2005-06 season in which he made 43 appearances in the Championship.

While playing for Crystal Palace in the 2004-05 season of the Premiership, Király proved himself to be one of the most able goalkeepers in the division, and was rumored to have been approached by high-profile clubs, including Arsenal and Newcastle United.

On 18 May 2006, Király did what many expected, and handed in a transfer request. With the signing of Scott Flinders, it seemed Gábor's wish would be granted shortly. His chances of securing a move to the Premiership increased on May 30, when he impressed for Hungary in their 3-1 defeat to England, saving a penalty by Frank Lampard in the process. However, Bob Dowie, Palace's director of football, revealed that the club had received no offers for the keeper's services, and thus it looked as if he was set to stay a third season at Palace.

New manager Peter Taylor installed Király as his number-one choice in goal, with Flinders as his backup, but later on in the season Flinders was recalled from a loan spell and replaced Király in the starting line-up. However, Flinders only played two games, conceding seven goals and giving Király an apparent express route back into the side, disjointed by a two-week loan spell at the Premiership side West Ham United from mid-November to early December 2006 in which he did not make an appearance, only spending three matches on the bench as an unused substitute.

He then returned to Palace, but almost immediately left for another loan spell at Aston Villa for one month, following injuries to Villa's regular keepers Thomas Sørensen and Stuart Taylor. At Villa, Király eventually managed a return to playing Premiership football after one year and a half of absence from it following Palace's relegation to the Championship in 2005. He was given his Villa debut on 16 December 2006 in their 1-0 defeat to Bolton Wanderers at Villa Park. The last match in his loan spell at Villa was their third-round FA Cup match against Manchester United at Old Trafford on 7 January 2007. His appearance in the match meant that he is now cup-tied to Villa until the end of the season, making a permanent transfer quite feasible. However, after making a couple of good saves in the first half, he made a costly blunder in the 91st minute of the game, allowing Ole Gunnar Solskjær's shot to trickle under him, giving Manchester United a 2-1 victory and advancement to the fourth round. Prior to this blunder, the scores were level and a replay at Villa Park looked imminent beforehand. He had been due to face the Red Devils again the following week, but following Sørensen and Taylor's return to fitness, he was allowed to return to Palace a day early, on 12 January 2007. By the end of January 2007, he made a return in Palace goal, with his first league match being a goalless draw away at Sunderland on 30 January 2007.

Király appeared in 65 international matches for the Hungarian national team since making his debut in 1998. During the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying, he was the only player in the Hungarian squad to appear in all of their ten qualifying matches.

Király is also recognizable for wearing a pair of tracksuit bottoms instead of shorts in almost every match he plays. Some pundits joke that he appears to playing in pajama-bottoms. During his time in English leagues, the only known time when he wore shorts instead of tracksuit bottoms was when Crystal Palace played Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea won 4-1. While at Hertha, he wore shorts made of the same material as the tracksuit bottoms he's usually wearing in two or three matches, but the only known match where he wore regular shorts was Hertha's UEFA Cup fixture at home against Polish club Dyskobolia in 2003, where the Spanish referee allegedly told him before the match that he is not allowed to play in training clothes.

He also has an interesting pre-kick-off routine where he runs to the goalline, touches the crossbar, and then stands still on the goalline with his hands behind his back until the referee starts the match.