Kirk Michael Game (born 22 October 1966) is a 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 ...

who played as a defender and

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth level of English football. The team are known as "The Shrimpers", a reference ...

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its ea ...

and a number of semi-professional football clubs in England.

Early life

Game was raised in Essex where he played in local junior leagues as a boy for Hadleigh Town, Blenheim Sports and Leigh Ramblers.

Club career

Southend United

Game joined

at the age of eleven and gradually worked his way through the playing ranks. He represented the under-18 youth team at fifteen whilst still at school and regularly trained with the first team squad during his school breaks. He signed as an apprentice at sixteen, became captain of the youth team and eventually the reserves. He was offered a professional contract just after his seventeenth birthday by

Bobby Moore Robert Frederick Chelsea Moore (12 April 1941 – 24 February 1993) was an English professional footballer. He captained West Ham United for more than ten years, and was the captain of the England national team that won the 1966 FIFA ...

, then manager of Southend. Game turned down a new contract he left the club for local rivals

Colchester United and later career

Former Everton and Norwich manager, Mike Walker, then manager of Colchester United, signed Game and it wasn't long before he made his return to his old club to secure a well earned draw. He made 29 appearances in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

for Colchester. After several successful seasons Game took up a new challenge by moving to Europe where he played in Germany. He returned to England a year later to play semi-professional for

Dartford Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames Estuary, is Thurrock in ...

who were managed by

Peter Taylor Peter Taylor may refer to: Arts * Peter Taylor (writer) (1917–1994), American author, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction * Peter Taylor (film editor) (1922–1997), English film editor, winner of an Academy Award for Film Editing Politic ...

. He remained at

non-League Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

level for the rest of his career playing for Chelmsford City,

Heybridge Swifts Heybridge Swifts Football Club is a football club based in Heybridge, near Maldon, Essex, England. They are currently members of the and play at Scraley Road. History The club was established in 1880 as Heybridge Football Club. After joining t ...

Dagenham & Redbridge Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club (), often known simply as Dagenham and abbreviated when written to Dag & Red, is a professional association football club based in Dagenham, Greater London, England that play in the , the sixth level of the En ...

, Billericay Town,

Braintree Town Braintree Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Braintree, Essex, England. They are currently members of and play at Cressing Road. History The club was formed on 24 September 1898 as Manor Works, the works team of the ...

Coaching career

Game became football coach having achieved the UEFA 'A' licence and has been a coach/manager at the Youth Academy of

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

. He also has many years experience as a secondary school P.E. Teacher, personal fitness trainer and has run many independent soccer schools and coaching clinics in England and the USA. He now manages the full-time U19 Academy at

with former West Ham United player

Stuart Slater Stuart Ian Slater (born 27 March 1969) is an English football coach and former professional footballer. He played as a winger and forward from 1986 to 2009, notably played for West Ham United, Celtic, Ipswich Town, Leicester City and Watfor ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Game, Kirk 1966 births Living people Footballers from Rochford English men's footballers English Football League players Southend United F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players Dartford F.C. players Chelmsford City F.C. players Dagenham & Redbridge F.C. players Billericay Town F.C. players Braintree Town F.C. players Heybridge Swifts F.C. players Men's association football defenders Chelmsford City F.C. non-playing staff English football coaches West Ham United F.C. non-playing staff