Kyle Lafferty
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| Kyle Lafferty | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Kyle Lafferty | |
| Date of birth | September 16, 1987 (age 19) | |
| Place of birth | Enniskillen, Northern Ireland | |
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | |
| Nickname | Kyler, Paddy Crouch | |
| Playing position | Midfielder/Striker | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Burnley | |
| Number | 17 | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 2005- 2006 |
Burnley → Darlington (loan) |
45 (5) 9 (3) |
| National team2 | ||
| 2006- | Northern Ireland | 9 (1) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Kyle Lafferty (born 16 September 1987 in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland) is a professional footballer who currently plays for Burnley Football Club in the English Football League Championship.
The Northern Ireland youngster, who plays as a striker, started his career with Fermanagh side NFC Kesh before signing a YTS contract in 2004 for the Lancashire outfit. After one full season with the youth team he then broke into the Burnley first team squad at the start of the 2005-06 season, when he was invited along to a pre-season training camp in Austria along with fellow youngster Chris McCann by manager Steve Cotterill.
Darlington FC were interested in the talented striker and secured a two month loan deal for the teenager in January 2006. During his spell there Lafferty managed to score three goals in nine appearances for the North East outfit before being recalled back to the Championship side. Upon his recall in March he made his full debut in a heavy 3-0 defeat to Reading, but scored his first senior goal for the Clarets against Luton Town in the final game of the 2005-06 season, in a 1-1 draw. During the summer break Kyle made his debut for his country coming on as a substitute in a 1-0 loss to Uruguay played at the Giants Stadium, New Jersey, U.S.A. on the 21st May, 2006, and he played again as Northern Ireland lost 2-0 to Romania at Soldier Field, Chicago.
The 2006/07 campaign was a season of promise for the younster when he was a regular player for both club and country. He got off the mark when he scored his second goal for the club in a 2-2 draw at Crystal Palace on 26th August, 2006. An injury to key player Andy Gray in November 2006 ensured that the Northern Ireland International had a fair run in the senior team. He repaid their faith with a fantastic strike against Ipswich Town and also a brace against promotion chaser's Sunderland.
Kyle scored his first international goal for Northern Ireland in a friendly match against Finland in Helsinki on the 16th August 2006. Northern Ireland won the game 2-1 with Lafferty's goal being the winner. He started in Northern Ireland's 3-2 victory against Spain in September 2006 and in the following month he featured in the scoreless draw in Denmark and home win against Latvia.
Well-respected former players such as Gerry Armstrong and Lawrie Sanchez tipped him for success in the international game, seeing him as an able replacement for veteran striker James Quinn due to his aerial ability and height.
During the January 2007 transfer window, there were a few teams linked with Lafferty, however, it was Celtic, who made a bid of £500k for Lafferty's services. Burnley rejected the offer as they deemed it wasn't a true valuation of the player. They are keen for the striker to remain at Turf Moor as they seen him as a key member of the squad. Manager Steve Cotterill said "Contrary to his few quotes yesterday, there was a clever journalist who tried to catch Kyle out and mis-quoted him. Kyle is neither a Rangers, nor Celtic fan and he is not interested in leaving. Therefore, he is our player."
[edit] External links
| Burnley F.C. - Current Squad |
|---|
|
1 Coyne | 2 Thomas | 3 Harley | 4 McGreal | 5 Coughlan | 6 Duff | 7 J. O'Connor | 8 Mahon | 9 Jones | 10 Gray | 11 Elliott | 12 Jensen | 14 G. O'Connor | 15 Branch | 16 McCann | 17 Lafferty | 18 Djemba-Djemba | 19 Spicer | 20 Akinbiyi | 21 McVeigh | 22 Foster | 24 Caldwell | 25 Guðjónsson | Manager: Cotterill |
