Nya Kirby

Nya Kirby

Personal information
Full name	Nya Jerome Kirby [1]
Date of birth	(2000-01-31) 31 January 2000 (age 25) [2]
Place of birth	Islington, England
Height	1.74 m (5 ft 8+1⁄2 in) [3]
Position	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	AFC Croydon Athletic
Youth career
0000–2017	Tottenham Hotspur
2017–2018	Crystal Palace
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2018–2022	Crystal Palace	0	(0)
2019	→ Blackpool (loan)	11	(1)
2021	→ Tranmere Rovers (loan)	6	(0)
2023–2024	Oxford City	27	(2)
2024–	AFC Croydon Athletic	33	(7)
International career
2015–2016	England U16	8	(1)
2016–2017	England U17	13	(0)
2017–2018	England U18	5	(2)
2018	England U19	10	(1)
Medal record Men's football Representing   England FIFA U-17 World Cup Winner 2017 India
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 15:35, 26 April 2025 (UTC)

Nya Jerome Kirby (born 31 January 2000) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for AFC Croydon Athletic.

Club career

Kirby played youth football for Tottenham Hotspur and Crystal Palace, before moving on loan to Blackpool in January 2019. ^[4]

He made his debut for Blackpool on 29 January 2019, coming off the bench in a 2–2 draw with Wycombe Wanderers and winning the 85th minute penalty which Harry Pritchard scored to earn a point. ^[5]

Kirby made his senior debut for Crystal Palace on 15 September 2020 against AFC Bournemouth in the second round of the EFL Cup. ^[6]

On 22 January 2021, Kirby joined League Two club Tranmere Rovers on loan for the remainder of the 2020–21 season. ^[7]

Kirby was released by Crystal Palace at the end of the 2021–22 season. ^[8]

In August 2023, he signed for Oxford City. ^[9] He scored his first goal for the club on 28 August 2023, opening the scoring in a 4-0 win over Boreham Wood. ^[10] He left after one season, joining AFC Croydon Athletic shortly after and making his league debut against Ramsgate on 10 August 2024. ^{[11] [12]}

International career

He has represented England at under-17, under-18 ^[13] and under-19 international youth levels. ^[4]

He was a member of the team that won the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup, ^[14] scoring the decisive penalty in the round of 16 against Japan ^[15] and was a second-half substitute against Spain in the final. ^[16] Kirby also represented England under-19 at the 2018 UEFA European Under-19 Championship. ^[17]

Career statistics

As of 27 March 2021

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
Crystal Palace	2018–19 [18]	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	2019–20 [19]	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	2020–21 [20]	Premier League	0	0	0	0	1	0	—		1	0
	Total		0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
Blackpool (loan)	2018–19 [18]	League One	11	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	11	1
Tranmere Rovers (loan)	2020–21 [20]	League Two	6	0	—		—		2 [a]	0	8	0
Career total			17	0	0	0	1	0	2	0	20	1

1. Appearances in EFL Trophy

Honours

Tranmere Rovers

• EFL Trophy runner-up: 2020–21 ^[21]

England U17

• FIFA U-17 World Cup: 2017 ^{[14] [22]}

References

1. "Updated squad lists for 2018/19 Premier League". Premier League. 1 February 2019. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
2. Nya Kirby at Soccerway. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
3. "Nya Kirby: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
4. "Nya Kirby: Crystal Palace midfielder joins Blackpool on loan". BBC Sport. 11 January 2019. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
5. Matt Scrafton (30 January 2019). "Terry McPhillips explains why Nya Kirby wasn't allowed to take Blackpool's late penalty in Wycombe draw". Blackpool Gazette. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
6. "Team news: Eze starts plus two debuts awarded". www.cpfc.co.uk. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
7. "Nya Kirby: Tranmere Rovers sign Crystal Palace midfielder". BBC Sport. 22 January 2021. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
8. "Crystal Palace submit retained and released list 21/22 - News". Crystal Palace F.C. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
9. "Oxford City sign England Under-17 World Cup winner". Oxford Mail. 4 August 2023.
10. Oxford City 4-0 Boreham Wood BBC Sport. 28 August 2023. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
11. Match Report: AFC Croydon Athletic vs Ramsgate Isthmian.co.uk. 10 August 2024. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
12. "AFC Croydon Athletic | Appearances | Nya Kirby | Football Web Pages". www.footballwebpages.co.uk.
13. "Kirby Scores Again For England U18s". Crystal Palace F.C. 29 May 2018. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
14. Hafez, Shamoon (17 January 2019). "England's U17 World Cup winners – where are they now?". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
15. "Under-17 World Cup: England beat Japan on penalties to reach quarter-finals". BBC Sport. 17 October 2017. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
16. "Kirby Helps England Win U17 World Cup". Crystal Palace F.C. 28 October 2017. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
17. "Kirby in Action but England U19s Suffer Elimination". Crystal Palace F.C. 24 July 2018. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
18. "Games played by Nya Kirby in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
19. "Games played by Nya Kirby in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
20. "Games played by Nya Kirby in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
21. Pilnick, Brent (14 March 2021). "Sunderland 1–0 Tranmere Rovers". BBC Sport. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
22. Veevers, Nicholas (26 September 2017). "World Cup squad named". www.thefa.com. Retrieved 28 August 2019.