Kevin Gallen

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Kevin Gallen
Gallen, Kevin (cropped).jpg
Gallen in 2010
Personal information
Full name Kevin Andrew Gallen [1]
Date of birth (1975-09-21) 21 September 1975 (age 49)
Place of birth Hammersmith, England
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
1992–1994 Queens Park Rangers
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1994–2000 Queens Park Rangers 171 (36)
2000–2001 Huddersfield Town 38 (10)
2001 Barnsley 9 (2)
2001–2007 Queens Park Rangers 194 (54)
2007 → Plymouth Argyle (loan) 13 (1)
2007–2009 Milton Keynes Dons 30 (9)
2008–2009 → Luton Town (loan) 9 (1)
2009–2011 Luton Town 57 (18)
2010–2011 → Barnet (loan) 7 (1)
2011 Braintree Town 3 (1)
2011–2012 Leverstock Green 5 (1)
2012–2013 Aylesbury United 4 (2)
Total540(136)
International career
1993 England U18 11 (0)
1995–1996 England U21 4 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Kevin Andrew Gallen (born 21 September 1975) is an English former professional footballer of Irish descent who played as a striker.

Contents

He notably played in the Premier League for Queens Park Rangers over several seasons, and would have two spells with the Loftus Road club. He also played in the Football League for Huddersfield Town, Barnsley, Plymouth Argyle, Milton Keynes Dons, Luton Town and Barnet, before finishing his career in Non-league with Braintree Town, Leverstock Green and Aylesbury United. A former England Under-21 striker, Gallen signed a professional contract for QPR on his 17th birthday after setting phenomenal scoring records whilst in the youth team, breaking Jimmy Greaves' long-standing record at that level. [2]

Career

Queens Park Rangers

Gallen was born in Chiswick. He made his Queens Park Rangers league debut in the Premier League at Old Trafford on the opening day of the 1994–95 season, and later went on to form a partnership with Les Ferdinand, scoring more than ten goals. Gallen's form dipped the next season after Ferdinand departed for Newcastle United, as QPR were relegated to The First Division.

After just two games of the 1996–97 season, in which he scored three goals, Gallen sustained a serious knee injury whilst playing against Portsmouth, which resulted in him missing the rest of the season.

His return to the team saw mixed performances, but by the 1998–99 season he was back to his best form, before injuries again held him back and the arrival of Rob Steiner and Chris Kiwomya kept him out of the team.

The 1999–2000 campaign saw Gallen fall behind Kiwomya, Steiner, Steve Slade and Mikkel Beck in the pecking order. He did, however, manage to score a winning goal on the last day of the season at the ground where his injury troubles had started – Portsmouth.

Huddersfield and Barnsley

In August 2000 he left QPR to find first-team football at Huddersfield Town. His return to Loftus Road as an opposition player saw him score, but then miss a penalty. [3] Gallen soon found himself out in the cold once more as Huddersfield changed managers, and his contract was not renewed at the end of the season.

Gallen spent the summer of 2001 training with QPR, now in Division Two, with a view to joining on a free transfer, but a compromise on wages could not be reached. He instead joined Barnsley on a two-year contract. [4]

Return to QPR

The deal at Barnsley proved to be a short-lived, as Gallen re-joined Queens Park Rangers on 19 November 2001. Two days after returning to his boyhood club he scored one and set up two others in an emphatic 4–0 home win over Swindon. [5]

A change in fortunes soon followed for Gallen and QPR, with Gallen earning the club captaincy, netting another 55 goals over the ensuing five seasons and helping the club to establish itself back in the second tier of English football. Overall, Gallen scored 97 goals for QPR, making him the sixth highest scorer in the club's history.

Plymouth and MK Dons

On 11 January 2007 Gallen linked up with his former QPR manager Ian Holloway, joining Plymouth Argyle on loan until the end of 2006–07 season. [6] During his spell at Home Park he scored once in the league, during a 3–2 victory over Coventry City. [7] He was released by QPR in July 2007. He was offered a contract by Plymouth Argyle, but instead opted to join a lower-level club – Milton Keynes Dons. [8] Gallen played 31 games and scored nine goals as MK Dons won both promotion to League One as champions, and The Football League Trophy.

Later career

On 14 November 2008, Gallen joined League Two side Luton Town on an initial one-month loan, [9] which was later extended by a further month. His run in the team at Luton coincided with a seven match unbeaten run for The Hatters, with Gallen often being used as a midfielder. At the beginning of January, Gallen had his contract at MK Dons terminated by mutual consent, [10] and he subsequently signed for Luton as a free agent. Gallen signed a one-year extension to his Luton contract at the end of the season, a campaign that ultimately ended in Luton's relegation to the Conference, keeping him at the club until June 2010. [11]

Now in non-league football, Gallen found himself utilised back in his familiar position as a striker, scoring eighteen goals in the 2009–10 season, including his first ever hat-trick on 5 April 2010 in a 6–0 win over Grays Athletic. [12] His goalscoring prowess saw him sign a further one-year extension to his contract, running until the end of the 2010–11 season. [13]

In October 2010 Gallen joined Barnet on a three-month loan deal. [14] He scored one goal in nine appearances during his time at the club, before returning to Luton on 8 January 2011.

On 31 January 2011, Gallen was released from his Luton contract. [15] He made a total of 74 appearances for Luton, scoring 21 goals.

On 31 March 2011, Gallen signed for Braintree Town. After a short spell with Leverstock Green in 2011–12, Gallen signed for Aylesbury United of the Molten Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division at the start of the 2012–13 season. [16]

Personal life

Gallen was born in England to Irish parents from Donegal and Mayo. [17] He has two brothers in football, Joe and Steve, who have both also worked as coaches for QPR.

In January 2015, Gallen was a finalist alongside Rufus Brevett for the Harrow Borough job, although the job was handed to Steve Baker instead. [18]

Gallen has appeared on The Magic Sponge podcast by Dave which is hosted by comedians Rob Beckett, Ian Smith and ex-footballer Jimmy Bullard. He has appeared twice as a guest, one time being a late replacement for Chris Iwelumo. Gallen became a cult hero on the podcast and occasionally steps in for Jimmy Bullard as a co-host when Jimmy is absent.

Honours

Queens Park Rangers

Milton Keynes Dons

England U18

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References

  1. ↑ "List of Temporary Transfers of Players under Written Contract Between 01/10/2010 and 31/10/2010" (PDF). The Football Association. Retrieved 23 November 2010.
  2. ↑ "Holloway praises Gallen". BBC Sport . 18 September 2002. Retrieved 14 November 2009.
  3. ↑ "QPR 1–1 Huddersfield". BBC Sport . 18 November 2000. Retrieved 23 October 2009.
  4. ↑ "Barnsley snap up Gallen". BBC Sport . 27 July 2001. Retrieved 14 November 2009.
  5. ↑ "QPR 4–0 Swindon". BBC Sport . 21 November 2001. Retrieved 23 October 2009.
  6. ↑ "Plymouth sign trio on loan deals". BBC Sport . 11 January 2007. Retrieved 14 November 2009.
  7. ↑ "Plymouth 3–2 Coventry". BBC Sport . 22 January 2007. Retrieved 23 October 2009.
  8. ↑ "Ince beats Argyle to Gallen deal". BBC Sport . 5 July 2007. Retrieved 14 November 2009.
  9. ↑ "Luton sign Gallen on month's loan". BBC Sport . 14 November 2008. Retrieved 14 November 2009.
  10. ↑ "Gallen and MK Dons agree to part". BBC Sport . 12 January 2009. Retrieved 14 November 2009.
  11. ↑ "Gallen agrees one year extension". Luton Town F.C. 28 May 2009. Archived from the original on 31 May 2009. Retrieved 14 November 2009.
  12. ↑ "Kevin Gallen's career statistics". soccerbase.com. Archived from the original on 29 May 2008. Retrieved 14 November 2009.
  13. ↑ "Gallen agrees 12-month deal". Luton Town F.C. 19 May 2010. Archived from the original on 22 May 2010. Retrieved 19 May 2010.
  14. ↑ "Gallen joins Bees". Luton Town F.C. 22 October 2010. Archived from the original on 24 October 2010. Retrieved 23 October 2010.
  15. ↑ "Quartet released". Luton Town F.C. 31 January 2011. Archived from the original on 2 February 2011. Retrieved 31 January 2011.
  16. ↑ "Kevin Gallen Profile". aylesburyunited.co.uk. Aylesbury United F.C. Retrieved 9 September 2013.
  17. ↑ Post, Irish. "Gallen: 'I had an opportunity to play for Ireland and it never happened'". The Irish Post.
  18. ↑ "New Harrow Borough boss beat off competition from QPR legends to land Ryman League job". 26 January 2015.
  19. ↑ Mitchener, Mark (30 March 2008). "Grimsby 0–2 MK Dons". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
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