Kyle Howkins

Kyle Howkins

Personal information
Full name	Kyle Elliot Howkins [1]
Date of birth	(1996-05-04) 4 May 1996 (age 27) [2]
Place of birth	Walsall, England [2]
Height	6 ft 5 in (1.95 m) [3]
Position(s)	Centre-back
Team information
Current team	Hereford
Number	28
Youth career
2012–2014	West Bromwich Albion
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2015–2019	West Bromwich Albion	0	(0)
2015–2016	→ Kidderminster Harriers (loan)	8	(1)
2016–2017	→ Mansfield Town (loan)	16	(0)
2017–2018	→ Cambridge United (loan)	2	(0)
2018	→ Port Vale (loan)	10	(1)
2019	→ Port Vale (loan)	3	(0)
2019–2021	Newport County	18	(1)
2021	→ Solihull Moors (loan)	7	(0)
2023–	Hereford	29	(1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22:26, 21 April 2024 (UTC)

Kyle Elliot Howkins (born 4 May 1996) is an English footballer who plays as a centre-back for National League North club Hereford.

He began his career at West Bromwich Albion, and enjoyed loan spells at Kidderminster Harriers, Mansfield Town, Cambridge United and Port Vale, before he joined Newport County on a permanent deal in June 2019. He joined Solihull Moors on loan in January 2021. He signed with Hereford in July 2023, following a two-year absence from the game as he recovered from an ACL injury.

Career

West Bromwich Albion

Howkins began his career with West Bromwich Albion. He joined the club at the age of 11 before progressing through the academy. ^[4] He signed scholarship forms, which eventually progressed through a third year. ^{[5] [6] [7]} In January 2017, Howkins signed a professional contract to keep him at The Hawthorns until 2019. ^[8]

On 23 October 2015, Howkins joined National League side Kidderminster Harriers on a 28-day youth loan. ^[9] He made his league debut for the "Carpetmen" six days later, in a 1–0 win over Woking at Aggborough. ^[10] He managed to establish himself in the first-team alongside Kelvin Langmead, with Jordan Tunnicliffe out injured, and was described by manager Dave Hockaday as "a lot of a monster, never mind a bit of a monster ... he's a big daft, galloot! He's got great height, he's a great athlete, he's big, he's strong he's up for the fight". ^[11] Coach Darren Moore said that "he's learning invaluable lessons of the game" playing in Kiddy's relegation fight. ^[12] His loan spell was extended until January, and he scored his first goal in senior football in a 2–1 defeat to Cheltenham Town on Boxing Day. ^{[13] [14]} He went on to make a total of ten appearances before being recalled by his parent club on 4 January. ^[15]

Howkins joined League Two side Mansfield Town on loan in July 2016. ^[16] He made his debut in the English Football League in a 3–2 victory at Newport County in the opening game of the season on 6 August. ^[17] However, he suffered a hamstring injury in an EFL Trophy Group Stage defeat to Doncaster Rovers on 30 August and was sidelined for a month. ^{[18] [19] [20]} This led "Stags" boss Adam Murray to sign Alex Iacovitti on loan from Nottingham Forest to provide cover at centre-back. ^[21] After returning to fitness he was sent off for a second bookable offence in a 4–0 loss at Portsmouth. ^[22] After extending his loan spell at Field Mill until the end of the 2016–17 season, Howkins soon suffered an injury that kept him out for two months. ^[23] He ended the campaign with a total of 20 appearances to his name. ^[24] Speaking in February, manager Steve Evans said that Howkins had "been excellent in all honesty... he's got a lot to do to become a Premier League player but he's on the right track". ^[25]

On 12 August 2017, Howkins signed a six-month loan deal with League Two team Cambridge United. ^[4] A hamstring injury kept him of out action for a month, before he made his debut, coming on as a late second-half substitute, in a 2–1 defeat at former club Mansfield Town on 23 September. ^[26] He made only one start for Shaun Derry's "U's", in a 1–0 defeat to Southampton U23s at the Abbey Stadium on 3 October. ^[27]

On 31 January 2018, he returned to League Two on loan at Port Vale until the end of the 2017–18 season. ^[28] He was one of three centre-backs signed by manager Neil Aspin within the space of 48 hours. ^[29] He impressed for the "Valiants" and Aspin stated his intention to try and bring Howkins back to Vale Park for the following season. ^[30] However, he missed the first half of the 2018–19 season with a knee injury, but said that upon returning to fitness "training with the likes of Gayle and Rodriguez has benefited me a lot". ^[31] He did return on loan to Port Vale on 31 January 2019, ironically the day after Aspin resigned as manager. ^[32] However, injury problems meant that he featured only three times under new manager John Askey and returned to West Brom on 30 April. ^{[33] [34]}

Newport County

On 11 June 2019, Howkins joined League Two club Newport County on a two-year contract; "Exiles" manager Michael Flynn said that "Kyle is someone I've kept my eye on for almost over 2 years and even tried signing him on loan in the past. It's a fantastic deal for us because he's got a promising future ahead of him". ^{[35] [36]} On 3 August, he made his debut for Newport in the opening game of the season, a 2–2 draw with Mansfield Town at Rodney Parade. ^[37] He scored his first goal for the "Ironsides" on 17 August, in a 1–0 home win over Plymouth Argyle. ^[38] On 29 November, he had a nasty clash of heads with Maldon & Tiptree striker Charlee Hughes and had a fit after falling to the ground; he suffered a fractured skull and was out of action for six weeks. ^{[39] [40]} The 2019–20 was ended early in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic in England. ^[41]

Howkins played the opening four games of the 2020–21 campaign before he was sidelined with a hamstring injury and fell out of Michael Flynn's first-team plans having fell behind David Longe-King, Matthew Dolan, Mickey Demetriou, Ashley Baker, Scot Bennett and Joe Woodiwiss in the pecking order. ^[41] On 21 January 2021, Howkins joined National League side Solihull Moors – managed by former West Brom coach James Shan – on loan for the remainder of the 2020–21 season. ^[42] On 4 June 2021 it was announced that he would leave Newport County at the end of the season, following the expiry of his contract. ^{[43] [44]}

Hereford

After spending just over two years out after suffering an ACL injury, on 7 July 2023, Howkins signed for National League North club Hereford. He had trained with the club for three weeks prior to signing and featured in their first pre-season friendly. ^[45] He made his debut in the opening home league fixture of the season.

Career statistics

As of end of 2023–24 season

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
West Bromwich Albion	2014–15 [46]	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2015–16 [47]	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2016–17 [48]	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2017–18 [49]	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2018–19 [50]	Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Total		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Kidderminster Harriers (loan)	2015–16 [51]	National League	8	1	1	0	—		1 [lower-alpha 1]	0	10	1
Mansfield Town (loan)	2016–17 [48]	League Two	16	0	0	0	1	0	3 [lower-alpha 2]	0	20	0
Cambridge United (loan)	2017–18 [49]	League Two	2	0	0	0	0	0	1 [lower-alpha 2]	0	3	0
Port Vale (loan)	2017–18 [49]	League Two	10	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	10	1
Port Vale (loan)	2018–19 [50]	League Two	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
Newport County	2019–20 [52]	League Two	16	1	0	0	2	0	4 [lower-alpha 2]	0	23	1
	2020–21 [43]	League Two	2	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	4	0
	Total		18	1	0	0	4	0	4	0	27	1
Solihull Moors (loan)	2020–21 [43]	National League	7	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	1
Hereford	2023–24 [51] [53]	National League North	29	1	4	0	—		4 [lower-alpha 1]	0	37	1
Career total			93	5	5	0	5	0	13	0	117	6

1. Appearance(s) in the FA Trophy
2. Appearances in the EFL Trophy

References

1. "Notification of shirt numbers: Newport County" (PDF). English Football League. p. 47. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
2. "FootballSquads - Port Vale - 2018/2019". www.footballsquads.co.uk. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
3. "Mansfield Town: Roster". FOX Networks Group. Retrieved 29 April 2017.
4. "U's sign West Brom defender Kyle Howkins on six month loan". Cambridge United Official Site. 12 August 2017. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
5. "Albion agree new deals with youngsters Donervorn Daniels and Kemar Roofe". Birmingham Mail. 22 May 2014. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
6. "West Brom take up options on young trio". Express and Star. 25 May 2015. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
7. "'Bags of running' for West Brom's academy players". Express and Star. 1 July 2016. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
8. "Howkins extends Albion stay". West Bromwich Albion F.C. 11 January 2017. Archived from the original on 4 November 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
9. "Howkins joins Kidderminster on loan". West Bromwich Albion F.C. 23 October 2015. Archived from the original on 4 November 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
10. "Kidderminister Harriers 1 – 0 Woking". BBC Sport. 31 October 2015. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
11. "West Brom loan watch: Find out how 'lot of a monster' defender is getting on". Birmingham Mail. 20 November 2015. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
12. Suart, Paul (11 December 2015). "West Brom coach Darren Moore discusses the progress of a Baggies teenager". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
13. "Kidderminster Harriers head coach Dave Hockaday backing his team to surprise Grimsby Town". Kidderminister Shuttle. 26 November 2015. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
14. "Kidderminster Harriers edged out by Cheltenham Town in Boxing Day clash". Kiddminister Shuttle. 26 December 2015. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
15. "West Brom recall exciting young duo from Kidderminster Harriers". Birmingham Mail. 4 January 2016. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
16. "Kyle Howkins: Mansfield sign West Bromwich Albion defender on loan". BBC Sport. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
17. "Newport 2–3 Mansfield". BBC Sport. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
18. "Mansfield Town vs Doncaster Rovers". Mansfield Town F.C. 30 August 2016. Archived from the original on 4 November 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
19. "Hawthorns rehab for injured Stags loanee Howkins". Mansfield and Ashfield Chad. 7 September 2016. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
20. "Murray preparing for visit of strong U's side". Mansfield Town F.C. 1 September 2016. Archived from the original on 4 November 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
21. Lomas, John (7 September 2016). "Hawthorns rehab for injured Stags loanee Howkins". www.chad.co.uk. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
22. "MATCH REPORT: Mansfield Town 1 Wycombe Wanderers 1 – Super sub Green strikes again for Stags". Mansfield and Ashfield Chad. 15 October 2016. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
    "MATCH REPORT: Portsmouth 4 Mansfield Town 0". Mansfield and Ashfield Chad. 14 November 2016. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
    "Howkins back with Stags next week". Mansfield and Ashfield Chad. 14 December 2016. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
23. "West Brom defender extends loan stay with Mansfield Town". Birmingham Mail. 6 December 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
    "BIG MATCH PREVIEW: Notts County v Mansfield Town Saturday, 14th January 2017". Mansfield and Ashfield Chad. 12 January 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
24. "Defensive reshuffle for Stags for big Exeter clash". Mansfield and Ashfield Chad. 1 April 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
    "Injured Stags pair to return for big six-pointer?". Mansfield and Ashfield Chad. 27 March 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
25. "West Brom's Kyle Howkins is on the right track, says Mansfield boss Steve Evans". Express and Star. 9 February 2017. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
26. "Shaun Derry delighted as Cambridge United get off mark with win at Crawley Town in League 2". Cambridge News. 19 August 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
    "Danny Rose scores late on for Mansfield Town to send Cambridge United to defeat". Cambridge News. 23 September 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
27. "Checkatrade Trophy (Sky Sports)". SkySports. 3 October 2017. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
28. Baggaley, Michael (31 January 2018). "Port Vale sign West Brom defender Kyle Howkins on loan". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
29. Baggaley, Michael (1 February 2018). "Port Vale missed out on signings before deadline, Neil Aspin reveals". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
30. Baggaley, Michael (19 April 2018). "Port Vale's Aspin warns deal for West Brom's Howkins is not straightforward". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
31. Wilson, Matt (31 January 2019). "West Brom defender Kyle Howkins joins Port Vale on loan". Express and Star. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
32. "Kyle Howkins: West Bromwich Albion loan defender back to Port Vale". BBC Sport. 31 January 2019. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
33. Baggaley, Michael (30 April 2019). "West Brom defender leaves Port Vale". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
34. Sherwin, Phil (19 May 2019). "From local heroes who impressed to lost boys: Port Vale class of 2018/19 rated". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
35. "Kyle Howkins: Newport County sign ex-West Brom defender". BBC Sport. 11 June 2019. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
36. "PLAYER NEWS | Kyle Howkins signs a Permanent Deal to join the Exiles". www.newport-county.co.uk. 11 June 2019. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
37. "Newport County 2-2 Mansfield Town". BBC Sport. 3 August 2019. Retrieved 4 August 2019.
38. "Newport County 1-0 Plymouth Argyle: Howkins' header earns Exiles win". 17 August 2019. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
39. Penman, Andrew (6 December 2019). "Newport County feared head injury could end Kyle Howkins' season". South Wales Argus. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
40. Penman, Andrew (10 January 2020). "Exiles ace Kyle Howkins delighted to be back after horror injury". South Wales Argus. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
41. Kirwan, Chris (22 January 2021). "Flynn: Defender Howkins needed to leave County to get career back on track". South Wales Argus. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
42. Kirwan, Chris (21 January 2021). "County defender drops down to National League with Solihull". South Wales Argus. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
43. "Games played by Kyle Howkins in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
44. "Newport County AFC retained list confirmed". www.newport-county.co.uk. 4 June 2021. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
45. "Kyle Howkins Joins the Bulls". The Official website of Hereford FC. 7 July 2023. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
46. "Games played by Kyle Howkins in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
47. "Games played by Kyle Howkins in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
48. "Games played by Kyle Howkins in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
49. "Games played by Kyle Howkins in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
50. "Games played by Kyle Howkins in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
51. Kyle Howkins at Soccerway. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
52. "Games played by Kyle Howkins in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
53. FA Cup second qualifying round v Anstey Nomads (H), 16 September 2023: "Hereford FC v Anstey Nomads LIVE minute by minute updates". Hereford Times . 16 September 2023. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
    FA Cup third qualifying round v Cambridge City (H), 30 September 2023: "Emirates FA Cup Third Qualifying Round – Hereford 3 - 0 Cambridge City". Football Web Pages. 30 September 2023. Retrieved 18 November 2023.

External links

• Profile at Hereford
• Kyle Howkins at FBref.com
• Kyle Howkins at FootballDatabase.eu
• Kyle Howkins at Soccerbase
• Kyle Howkins at Soccerway
• Kyle Howkins at WorldFootball.net