Kyle Lafferty
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Kyle Lafferty | ||
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | ||
| Position(s) | Striker | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Rangers | ||
| Number | TBA | ||
| ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 16 June 2008 | |||
Kyle Lafferty (born 16 September 1987) is a professional footballer who currently plays for Scottish Premier League side Rangers and the Northern Ireland national football team.
Club career
Burnley
Lafferty was born in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland. He began his career with NFC Kesh, playing in the Fermanagh & Western League. In 2004 he signed a youth team apprenticeship with English Championship team Burnley. The following season saw him begin to make an impression upon the Burnley first team. He made his debut during a 2-1 away league defeat to Crewe Alexandra on August 6 2005, coming on as a 89th minute substitute for Garreth O'Connor.[1]
In January 2006, Lafferty joined Darlington on loan. He went on to make nine appearances and net three goals for the club, including a scoring debut against Notts County on 7 January.[2] He returned to Burnley in February 2006.
He scored his first senior goal against Luton Town, netting the equaliser for Burnley during a 1-1 draw on 30 April 2006.[3] Lafferty played 89 times and scored 10 goals during his time at Burnley.
Rangers
On 16 June 2008, Burnley accepted a bid from Rangers of £3m plus Alan Gow but talks with Gow over his move to Turf Moor broke down. Lafferty moved to Rangers on 19 June minus Gow.[4]
International career
During 2006, he received his first senior Northern Ireland call-up on a post-season trip to the USA to play friendly games against Romania and Uruguay. Lafferty scored his first Northern Ireland goal in an away friendly against Finland the following year.
He featured predominantly as the second striker alongside David Healy during Northern Ireland's Euro 2008 qualification group, and he scored his first competitive international goal in a 4–1 victory over group minnows Liechtenstein. He then secured a 1–1 draw away to Sweden, scoring Northern Ireland's equaliser in the second half.
On 26 March 2008, he bagged his first international brace, scoring two goals in a friendly against Georgia which Northern Ireland won 4–1.
International goals
- Scores and results list Northern Ireland's goal tally first.
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2006-08-16 | Helsinki, Finland |  Finland |
2–0 | 2–1 | Friendly game |
| 2 | 2007-08-22 | Belfast, Northern Ireland |  Liechtenstein |
3–0 | 3–1 | UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying |
| 3 | 2007-10-17 | Solna, Sweden |  Sweden |
1–1 | 1–1 | UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying |
| 4 | 2008-03-26 | Belfast, Northern Ireland |  Georgia |
1–0 | 4–1 | Friendly game |
| 5 | 2008-03-26 | Belfast, Northern Ireland | Georgia |
3–0 | 4–1 | Friendly game |
References
- ^ Crewe 2-1 Burnley Soccerbase, 6 August 2005
- ^ Notts County 3-2 Darlington Soccerbase, 7 January 2006
- ^ Burnley 1-1 Luton Soccerbase, 30 April 2006
- ^ "Lafferty completes Rangers move" BBC Sport website, 19 June 2008
External links
- Kyle Lafferty at Soccerbase
- Kyle Lafferty profile at burnleyfootballclub.com
- Kyle Lafferty profile at darlington-fc.co.uk
- Kyle Lafferty profile at irishfa.com
