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. Club career Coventry City Kirkland was born in Barwell, Leicestershire, where he grew up with his parents, Marie and Eddie, and attended Heathfield School and then Henley College Coventry. His father, Eddie, was a crane driver and spent many hours helping his son practise his goalkeeping skills. After an unsuccessful trial with Blackburn Rovers, he accepted a contract offer from Coventry City. He signed professional terms with the club in July 1998. Kirkland made his debut for Coventry in the League Cup in a 3–1 victory over Tranmere Rovers at Highfield Road on 22 September 1999. Manager Gordon Strachan began selecting him in Premier League matches ahead of Swedish international Magnus Hedman despite saying Kirkland was "big Bambi who couldn't kick the ball out of the penalty box". His performances were rewarded at the end of the 2000–01 season when he made his debut for the England under-21s, and was voted Coventry's Players' Player of the Year by his teammates. He was linked with moves to Arsenal and Liverpool, despite his relatively limited experience and was eventually bought by Liverpool for £6 million in August 2001. At the time he was the most expensive goalkeeper