Maximilian William Kilman (born 23 May 1997) is an English 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 plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for club

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 ...

Early life

Kilman was born in Chelsea,

Greater London Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...

, to Ukrainian parents. His father was from

Odesa Odesa, also spelled Odessa, is the third most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern ...

, and his mother is from

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

. Kilman speaks Russian in addition to English. Kilman grew up in

West Ham West Ham is a district in East London, England and is in the London Borough of Newham. It is an inner-city suburb located east of Charing Cross. The area was originally an ancient parish formed to serve parts of the older Manor of Ham, a ...

until the age of nine, before moving to north-west London.

Club career

Early career

Kilman began his career in the academy at

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

. As a teenager, he joined

futsal Futsal is a variant of association football played between two teams of five players each on a court smaller than a football pitch. Its rules are based on the Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of the Game of association football, and i ...

club Genesis Futsal Club while continuing to play the 11-a-side game. He later joined the academy at Gillingham before signing for

Maidenhead United Maidenhead United Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Maidenhead, Berkshire, England. Affiliated to the Berks & Bucks FA, they are currently members of the . The club were established in October 1870 and have played at ...

in 2015, after making a single

London Senior Cup The London Senior Cup is the County Senior Cup of the London FA. The London Senior Cup was first won by Upton Park in 1882. Although the leading professional sides in London no longer compete, the Cup has been won in the past by the likes of ...

appearance for

Welling United Welling United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club, based in Welling in the London Borough of Bexley, England. The most prominent aspect of the club is its men's first team, who play in the , the seventh level of the E ...

against

Cockfosters Cockfosters is a suburb of north London to the east of Chipping Barnet, lying partly in the London Borough of Enfield and partly in the London Borough of Barnet. It is 10 miles (16 km) north of Charing Cross. Before 1965, it was in the count ...

in October 2014. Kilman was loaned out to

Southern Football League The Southern League is a football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from East Anglia, the South and Midlands of England, and South Wales. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven a ...

side Marlow for the 2016–17 season. Kilman returned the following season and made his debut for the Magpies on the opening day of the 2017–18 season against Maidstone United, while continuing his futsal career, signing for

Helvécia Helvécia is a village in Bács-Kiskun county, in the Southern Great Plain region of southern Hungary. History Helvécia was founded in 1892 by Swiss-born teacher . After the great phylloxera epidemic that had destroyed much of the historical ...

. He went on to make 39 appearances for Maidenhead before signing for

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

for an undisclosed fee on transfer deadline day in August 2018.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Kilman spent the season with the club's under-23 side, helping them to win promotion from the second tier of the Premier League reserve competition. In April 2019, head coach

Nuno Espírito Santo Nuno Herlander Simões Espírito Santo (born 25 January 1974), known as Nuno Espírito Santo or simply Nuno, is a Portuguese-São Toméan Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played as a Goalkee ...

stated that "Max is 100 percent integrated into the (first team) squad... I just see him as a very good football player, a centre-half with quality. He's big, aggressive. He has to improve like all young players, but we're really, really happy with Max." Kilman was first included in a senior matchday squad in December 2018, and was an unused substitute on five occasions before he made his senior debut on 4 May 2019, coming on as a last-minute substitute in a 1–0 win against

in the Premier League. In doing so, he became the first player to go directly from non-League to the Premier League, with no loans in between, since

Chris Smalling Christopher Lloyd Smalling (born 22 November 1989) is an English professional Association football, footballer who plays as a centre-back for Saudi Pro League club Al-Fayha FC, Al-Fayha. Smalling represented the England national football team, ...

moved from Maidstone United to

in 2008. Kilman made his full senior debut for Wolves in a 4–0 home win against

FC Pyunik Football Club Pyunik (), commonly known as Pyunik (), is an Armenian professional sports club based in the Kentron neighbourhood of Yerevan. Pyunik is mostly known for its professional football team which, since its creation in 1992, has always ...

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

in the

2019–20 UEFA Europa League The 2019–20 UEFA Europa League was the 49th season of Europe's secondary club association football, football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 11th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. Sevilla FC, Sevill ...

Qualifying Third Round, Second Leg, on 15 August. On 21 April 2020, Wolverhampton's ''

Express & Star The ''Express & Star'' is a regional evening newspaper in Britain. Founded in 1889, it is based in Wolverhampton, England, and covers the West Midlands county and Staffordshire. Currently edited by Martin Wright, the ''Express & Star'' publis ...

'' announced that Kilman's contract with Wolves had been extended until the summer of 2022. On 21 October, Wolves announced that Kilman had extended his contract with the club until the summer of 2025. On 1 November 2021, Kilman scored the opening goal in Wolves's 2–1 win over Everton at Molineux. The goal, a well-taken header, following a corner from the left from

Rayan Aït-Nouri Rayan Aït-Nouri (; born 6 June 2001) is a professional footballer who plays as a left-back or a left wing-back for club Manchester City. Born in France, he plays for the Algeria national team. Early life Aït-Nouri was born in Montreuil, in ...

, was Kilman's first for Wolves (in his 44th appearance for the club at senior level) and his first in the Premier League. Four days later, Kilman signed a new long-term deal with Wolves until 2026. Max Kilman

Kilman made his 100th competitive appearance for Wolves in their 1–0 home win against Chelsea on 8 April 2023. On 11 August 2023, Wolves announced that Kilman had been appointed club captain (in succession to the recently departed Rúben Neves) and two days later it was announced that Kilman had signed a new five-year contract with Wolves, running until 2028. Kilman made his 100th Premier League appearance on 4 November 2023, away to

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

. Wolves lost the match 2–1, conceding a penalty deep into time added on at the end of the second-half. Kilman scored his second Wolves goal, and first since becoming club captain, in the final game of 2023, a 3–0 win against Everton at Molineux in the Premier League on 30 December. In the 2023–24 season, he was one of two outfield players to feature in all 3,420 minutes in the Premier League, along with William Saliba.

West Ham United

On 6 July 2024, Kilman joined

by signing a seven-year contract, for a reported £40m transfer fee. His former club, Maidenhead United, gained £4m from the deal having inserted a 10% share clause in the contract when Kilman was sold to Wolverhampton Wanderers.

International career

Kilman made his debut for the

England national futsal team The England national futsal team represents England during international futsal competitions such as the FIFA Futsal World Cup and the European Championships. The team (and sport) is governed by The Football Association and delivered by their c ...

at the age of 18. He went on to accumulate 25 caps for the Three Lions. Kilman's futsal career was put on hiatus when he signed for Wolves in August 2018. He was also eligible to play international football for

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

through his parents. In March 2021, Ukraine coach

Andriy Shevchenko Andriy Mykolayovych Shevchenko (, ; born 29 September 1976) is a Ukrainian former Manager (association football), football manager and Football player, player. Shevchenko is considered one of the greatest Striker (association football), strik ...

announced that he had formally asked

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

to switch Kilman's national allegiance to Ukraine, but also enquired of them as to whether his appearances for the England futsal team would make him ineligible for Ukraine. On 7 April 2021, FIFA rejected the application, confirming that his appearances for England in competitive futsal matches ties him to playing for England in any form of football.

Career statistics

References

External links

Profile
at the West Ham United F.C. website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kilman, Max 1997 births Living people English people of Ukrainian descent Footballers from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea People from Chelsea, London English men's footballers Men's association football central defenders Fulham F.C. players Gillingham F.C. players Welling United F.C. players Maidenhead United F.C. players Marlow F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players West Ham United F.C. players Southern Football League players National League (English football) players Premier League players English men's futsal players Futsal defenders 21st-century English sportsmen