Kirk Broadfoot

Kirk John Broadfoot (born 8 August 1984 in Irvine, North Ayrshire) is a Scottish football player who plays as a defender for Blackpool.

Broadfoot started his senior career with St. Mirren and he helped the club gain promotion to the Scottish Premier League by winning the 2005–06 Scottish First Division. He moved to Rangers as a free agent in 2007 and enjoyed success with the Ibrox club until they entered insolvency in 2012. Broadfoot left Rangers by mutual consent in August 2012, joining Blackpool a week later.

He made his debut for the Scotland national team on 10 September 2008 against Iceland, a game in which he scored.

Early life

Broadfoot was brought up in the Ayrshire village of Drongan. He formerly played at boys club level for Coyle Thistle, Ayr Valspar,^[2] Auchinleck Talbot and Queen of the South.^[3]

Club career

St. Mirren

Broadfoot initially signed for Scottish Premier League side Hibernian as a sixteen-year-old apprentice, but he was released and signed for St. Mirren on 1 July 2002.^[4][5] He went on to make 174 appearances for the club and was team captain for the 2006–07 season, replacing team-mate Kevin McGowne. Broadfoot was part of the St. Mirren side which gained promotion to the Scottish Premier League for the 2006–07 season, and the team that won the 2005 Scottish Challenge Cup Final in November 2005.^[6]

Rangers

In March 2007, Broadfoot signed a pre-contract agreement to join Rangers in the summer.^[7] Broadfoot officially joined Rangers on 1 July that year. He made his Rangers debut against FK Zeta in a UEFA Champions League qualifier, on 31 July 2007^[8] and scored his first Rangers goal in a 7–2 victory against Falkirk in the Scottish Premier League.^[9] In the early part of the season, Broadfoot's first team opportunities were limited, suffering a hamstring injury which caused him to miss three games.

After Alan Hutton left for Tottenham Hotspur in the January transfer window, Broadfoot replaced him at right-back and was praised by Walter Smith.^[10] After making an appearance in the Scottish Cup against Hibernian early in 2008, he made only his second League start against Falkirk during a 2–0 win on 9 February and Rangers gave him the Man of the Match award.^[11] Following that, he was a regular in the side during the 2008–09 season. Broadfoot played in the 2008 Scottish League Cup Final helping Rangers to a 3–2 penalty shootout win at Hampden Park against Dundee United. He also played a significant role in Rangers' run to the 2008 UEFA Cup Final, but had to settle for a runners-up medal as the side lost 2–0 to Russian outfit Zenit Saint Petersburg. Broadfoot was dropped, however, for the 2008 Scottish Cup Final against Queen of the South.

He played regularly for Rangers in the 2008–09 season and made his international debut early that season. Broadfoot provided an assist for Kenny Miller in a 4-2 Old Firm victory.^[12] He was sent off in the 2009 Scottish League Cup Final for a professional foul on Aiden McGeady, who converted the resulting penalty kick to give Celtic a 2–0 victory. During that match, Broadfoot was playing with a foot injury which ended his season after starting 28 league matches during the campaign.^[13] The extent of the foot injury meant Broadfoot was not fully fit to play until November 2009 in a closed doors match.^[14] During his injury rest, Broadfoot suffered a freak accident. He had an egg blow up in his face and needed hospital treatment for burns after he was checking on his microwaved food.^[15]

Broadfoot made his return to the Rangers' first team on 12 December 2009, nearly nine months after his last game, in a 3–0 victory against St. Johnstone.^[16] After the match, Broadfoot said his foot injury resulted in the 'toughest period in his life'.^[17] On 21 June 2010, Broadfoot signed a new three-year contract with Rangers; his original deal was due to expire at the end of that month.^[18]

During Rangers' match with Manchester United on 14 September, Broadfoot made an innocuous challenge on Antonio Valencia that resulted in his opponent suffering a broken ankle.^[19] Broadfoot was visibly distressed by the injury suffered by Valencia.^[19] In his Rangers Champions League next match, Broadfoot provided an assist for Steven Naismith in a 1–0 win over Turkish side Bursaspor at Ibrox to gain them their first win in 12 UEFA Champions League matches.^[20] Soon afterwards, Broadfoot's injury jinx struck again, resulting him being out until January.^[21] However, he then suffered a hairline fracture of his heel and his return was further delayed with Broadfoot out for the rest of the season.^[22]

Ahead of the new season, Broadfoot made his first appearance from injury in a 1–0 loss against German side Sportfreunde Lotte ^[23] Broadfoot noted his future at Rangers could be in doubt if his first team opportunities were limited.^[24] After a 2–0 win over Kilmarnock, Broadfoot was in an altercation with opponent Manuel Pascali after the full-time whistle, with manager Ally McCoist describing the pair's actions as 'handbags'^[25] Broadfoot criticised Kilmarnock manager, Kenny Shiels – after he described Broadfoot as "the ugly boy from Rangers" and "the male model from Ayrshire" in a radio interview – as immature and also claimed that Pascali made a threat towards him saying "in my face, saying he was going to kill me".^[26] In response, Pascali branded Broadfoot as a publicity-seeking coward.^[27] After a 1–0 loss to Kilmarnock on 29 November 2011 when he clashed with Rangers' fans, he was forced to have clear-the-air talks with McCoist.^[28]

During the season, Rangers went into administration over financial problems and a dispute with HMRC, leading to a 10-point deduction. On 14 June 2012, Rangers entered liquidation and its business and assets were then sold to a new company, Sevco Scotland Limited. Many players lodged an objection against their contracts being transferred from Rangers to Sevco, leading them to become free agents. Broadfoot's future at Rangers was unclear but he was one of several players who continued to train with Rangers.^[29] In June, he rejected a move to Hungarian side Debreceni, insisting he was happy at Rangers^[30]

Having made two appearances for Rangers in the new season, Broadfoot left the club by mutual consent on 28 August 2012 ^[31] He explained that the move was aimed at earning an international recall but he would welcome an eventual return to Rangers ^[32][33]

Blackpool

One week after leaving Rangers, Broadfoot signed until the end of the 2012–13 season with Championship side Blackpool.^[34] He also revealed that he had been close to signing for the Seasiders two years earlier. Of the move, he said: "I think it’s got something special about it, Blackpool, it just seems to have this aura about it that everyone seems to enjoy themselves here and I wanted to be part of that."^[35] However, his debut was delayed by injuries^{[citation needed]}.

Broadfoot had to wait until 29 September 2012, making his first start and playing 90 minutes in a 3–0 loss to Cardiff City; he made his home debut in a 1–1 draw against Brighton & Hove Albion on 27 October 2012. After the match, Broadfoot said he wanted to play an important role for the club.^[36] On 15 December 2012, Broadfoot scored his first goal in a 2–0 win over Blackburn Rovers, giving new manager Michael Appleton his first home success.^[37] However, Appleton's stay as manager was short-lived.^[38] Later in the 2012-13 season, Broadfoot continued to be a regular in the first team, playing in both central and right defence. On 5 March 2013, Broadfoot scored his second goal for the club, in a 1-1 draw against Birmingham City.^[39] In mid-April, Broadfoot was among 7 players offered a new contract.^[40] At the end of the 2012-13 season, Broadfoot was linked with Championship rival's Ipswich Town^[41] and Barnsley.^[42] Eventually, Broadfoot ended transfer speculation by signing a one-year extension with the club.^[43] After signing a new contract, Broadfoot revealed that lots of clubs were interested in signing him and express delight signing a new contract.^[44]

International career

In November 2006, Broadfoot was called up to the Scotland B squad and played in the 0–0 draw with Republic of Ireland B.^[45] He made his second B team appearance in a 1–1 draw, also against the Republic of Ireland a year later.^[46] He has also won Scotland under–21 international caps. In September 2008, Broadfoot was called up to the Scotland senior squad to replace David Weir.^[47] Broadfoot made his debut for the senior side on 10 September 2008 against Iceland, and he scored the opening goal in a 2–1 Scotland win.^[48] Broadfoot retained his place for Scotland's next two matches, a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Norway, and a friendly match against Diego Maradona's Argentina side.

International goals

Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first.

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	10 September 2008	Laugardalsvöllur, Reykjavík	Iceland	1–0	2–1	FIFA World Cup 2010 qualifying

Career statistics

As of 15 January 2013

Honours

St. Mirren

• Scottish First Division (1): 2006
• Scottish Challenge Cup (1): 2005

Rangers

• Scottish Premier League (3): 2009, 2010, 2011
• Scottish League Cup (1): 2008

References

External links

• Kirk Broadfoot career stats at Soccerbase
• Kirk Broadfoot at scottishfa.co.uk