Chris Kirkland, English footballer
Christopher Edmund Kirkland (born 2 May 1981) is an English football coach and former professional goalkeeper who is now the head goalkeeping coach at Colne. As a player, he made 321 league and cup appearances in an 18-year professional career from 1998 to 2016, and won one cap for the English national team in 2006.
Kirkland started his career at Coventry City, where he was regarded as one of the country's most promising young goalkeepers. He was later signed by Premier League club Liverpool for £6 million in August 2001. However, his time at the club was blighted by recurring injuries, which almost caused him to retire from football altogether. He would later sign for Wigan Athletic in July 2006, after a successful loan period, and he had further loan spells at both Leicester City and Doncaster Rovers before being signed by Sheffield Wednesday in May 2012. He joined Preston North End in August 2015, and had a brief spell with Bury before retiring in August 2016.
A year after retirement from playing, Kirkland took up coaching with Port Vale in January 2017. He subsequently joined the coaching staff of Liverpool Women the following year and was briefly the manager for a month and half.