Brian Kilcline (born 7 May 1962) is an English former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

. He played as a

centre half In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

for

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Coventry, West Midlands. The club plays in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club is nicknamed The Sky Blues after the sky blue colou ...

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 EFL League Two, 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the Eng ...

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third level of the English football league system. The club was formed in 1897 as Mans ...

and Halifax Town, and was famous for his long hair and moustache.

Career

Kilcline captained Coventry City in the 1987 FA Cup Final at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...

against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

. At the time it was thought that Kilcline was responsible for scoring an own goal to give Spurs a 2–1 lead in the 40th minute, but this goal was eventually credited to

Gary Mabbutt Gary Vincent Mabbutt (born 23 August 1961) is an English former footballer who made more than 750 professional appearances, first playing for Bristol Rovers and going on to play 619 games for Tottenham Hotspur, despite being diagnosed with typ ...

. Kilcline and Mabbutt were to clash again in the second half when Kilcline brought down Mabbutt with a tackle. Kilcline was not cautioned by referee Neil Midgley but had to be replaced by substitute Graham Rodger just a minute before the end of normal time due to the injury he himself sustained in the clash. After Coventry's extra time winner (the match finished 3-2) Kilcline limped slowly up the Wembley steps to receive the trophy for the only time in Coventry's history. In 1991, Kilcline joined newly promoted Oldham Athletic but his stay at the club was not to be a long one. When

Kevin Keegan Joseph Kevin Keegan (born 14 February 1951) is an English former footballer and manager. Nicknamed "King Kev" or "Mighty Mouse", Keegan was recognised for his dribbling ability, as well as his finishing and presence in the air, and is regard ...

became manager of Newcastle United in 1992, "Killer" Kilcline was his first signing, and was immediately installed as club captain. He became known for his hard tackling and aerial ability - he often would prefer a diving header to a volley, even for balls only half a metre off the ground. Keegan later remarked that Kilcline was "the most important signing" he had ever made for the club. This was echoed by fans, who considered him partially responsible for saving the club from relegation and possible bankruptcy. During the 1993–94 season, he briefly played for Swindon Town in the Premier League.

Personal life

Kilcline has been married to Lynn since 1994. As of 2017, the couple split their time between homes in Portugal and

Holmfirth Holmfirth () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England. It is located south of Huddersfield and west of Barnsley; the boundary of the Peak District National Park is to the south-west. The town is sited on t ...

, where they own a number of rental properties.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kilcline, Brian 1962 births Living people Footballers from Nottingham English men's footballers England men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football defenders Notts County F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Newcastle United F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players Halifax Town A.F.C. players English Football League players Premier League players