Early Life and Career
Born in Enfield, Middlesex, Kilkenny moved to Australia with his family at the age of four, and grew up in Brisbane.He also worked for a short while at Homebase. When 7, he played for a club in west Brisbane called St. Catherines United Football Club. St Cats is best known for defeating Westminster in the 2008 QCSA grand final senior Mens Division 5. A promising schoolboy footballer, he captained the Queensland schools' representative team. When Kilkenny was eleven, the family returned to England to maximise his chances of making a career in the game. At twelve, he was invited to join Arsenal's youth development scheme, and while a student at Ravenscroft School, Barnet, he played for Middlesex Schools and appeared for Arsenal's under-17 team. In July 2002 he began a two-year scholarship programme in Arsenal's Academy.
By the 2003–04 season, he had graduated to Arsenal's under-19 team and once been an unused substitute for the reserves, and had played international football for Republic of Ireland under-19s, qualifying via Irish paternal grandparents, and for England under-18s. However, he became unhappy at Arsenal, chose to leave the club, and after trials with clubs including Aston Villa, Manchester City and Leicester City, he joined Birmingham City on a free transfer in January 2004.
Read more about this topic: Neil Kilkenny
Famous quotes containing the words early, life and/or career:
“Make-believe is the avenue to much of the young child’s early understanding. He sorts out impressions and tries out ideas that are foundational to his later realistic comprehension. This private world sometimes is a quiet, solitary
world. More often it is a noisy, busy, crowded place where language grows, and social skills develop, and where perseverance and attention-span expand.”
—James L. Hymes, Jr. (20th century)
“I never read a novel, they have so little real life and thought in them.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“I restore myself when I’m alone. A career is born in public—talent in privacy.”
—Marilyn Monroe (1926–1962)