Kevin Horlock

Football player infobox
playername = Kevin Horlock
fullname = Kevin Horlock
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1972|11|1
cityofbirth = Erith
countryofbirth = England
currentclub = Needham Market
clubnumber =
position = Midfielder
years = 1991–1992
1992–1997
1997–2003
2003–2004
2004–2006
2006
2006–2008
2008
2008
2008–
clubs = West Ham United
Swindon Town
Manchester City
West Ham United
Ipswich Town
→ Doncaster Rovers (loan)
Doncaster Rovers
Scunthorpe United
→ Mansfield Town (loan)
Needham Market
caps(goals) = 000 0(0)
164 (22)
206 (39)
027 0(1)
058 0(0)
013 0(0)
002 0(1)
000 0(0)
005 0(0)
000 0(0)
manageryears = 2008–
managerclubs = Needham Market ("assistant")
nationalyears = 1995–2002
nationalteam = Northern Ireland
nationalcaps(goals) = 032 0(0)
pcupdate = 23:11, 4 May 2008 (UTC)
ntupdate = 07:38, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

Kevin Horlock (born November 1, 1972 in Erith, Kent) is an English born Northern Irish football player, currently player/assistant manager of Needham Market. Horlock is a former Northern Ireland international and is most associated with Manchester City, for whom he played in three different divisions including the Premier League. He also played for Swindon Town, West Ham United, Ipswich Town, Doncaster Rovers and Mansfield Town. Horlock was well known for his accurate set pieces and is particularly skilled at taking free kicks.

Career

windon Town

Horlock started his career as a trainee with West Ham United in 1989 but did not graduate to the first team and moved to Swindon Town in August 1992 where he spent a single season in the Premiership in 1993–94.cite book |last=Hogg|first=Tony |title=Who's Who of West Ham United |publisher=Profile Media| date=2005 |location=London |pages= p. 101|isbn=1 903135 50 8] Over the next few seasons he made his name as a versatile midfielder capable of playing on the left or in the centre, or at left-back. He also scored goals regularly, with 16 in the 1995–96 season.cite book| last =Baskcomb | first =Julian (ed.) | title =Manchester City F.C. Official Handbook 1997-98 | publisher =Polar | date = 1997| location = Leicester| pages =p. 23 | isbn = ] He made 200 appearances in all competitions, scoring 26 goals, in five seasons at Swindon before joining Manchester City in January 1997. [cite web| title =Kevin Horlock | work=Soccerbase | publisher= Racing Post| url= http://www.soccerbase.com/players_details.sd?playerid=3617| accessdate=2008-03-31 ]

Manchester City

Horlock was Frank Clark's first signing for Manchester City for a transfer fee reported as being between £1.25 million and £1.5 million.cite book |last=James|first=Gary|title=Manchester City - The Complete Record |publisher=Breedon| date=2006 |location=Derby|pages= p. 201|isbn=1 85983 512 0] He made his debut in a 4–1 Division One win against Oxford United and scored his first goal for Manchester City three weeks later against his former club Swindon. The following season he was a regular in the first team until suffering an injury which sidelined him for four months. [cite web |title=Games played by Kevin Horlock in 1997/1998 |work=Soccerbase |publisher=Racing Post|url=http://www.soccerbase.com/players_details.sd?playerid=3617&seasonid=127 |accessdate=2008-03-31] During Horlock's absence, Clark was sacked and chairman Francis Lee later observed that Horlock was one of only two good purchases Clark made.cite book |last=Buckley|first=Andy|coauthors=Burgess, Richard |title=Blue Moon Rising: The Fall and Rise of Manchester City |publisher=Milo | date=2000 |location=Bury |pages= p. 154|isbn=0 9530847 4 4] City were struggling at the foot of the table, and were relegated on the final day of the season despite a 5–2 win at Stoke City, in which Horlock scored the fifth goal. [cite web |title=Stoke 2 - 5 Man. City |work=Soccerbase |publisher=Racing Post|url=http://www.soccerbase.com/results3.sd?gameid=250902 |accessdate=2008-03-31] Horlock became Manchester City's primary penalty taker in the 1998–99 season, a role in which he continued for the next three seasons. Later that season Horlock was sent off in a match against Bournemouth in unusual circumstances, receiving a second yellow card for "walking towards the referee in an aggressive manner while asking a question". [cite news| title=City's nine under a cloud |publisher=The Independent |date= 1999-02-14 |url = http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19990214/ai_n14212909 | accessdate = 2008-01-07] Horlock's best season was probably the 2001–2002 season where he was deployed in the holding midfield role and helped Manchester City earn promotion in stylish manner, the team scoring 108 goals. [cite web|title=Final 2001/2002 Football League Championship Table |work=Soccerbase |publisher=Racing Post | url=http://www.soccerbase.com/league2.sd?competitionid=2&seasonid=131| accessdate=2008-03-31] One of the most notable moments of his career was the 1999 season play-off final against Gillingham when he scored the first goal of the comeback when Manchester City won on penalties after being 2–0 down until the last five minutes of the game. [cite web| title=Gillingham 2 - 2 Man City |work=Soccerbase |publisher=Racing Post | url=http://www.soccerbase.com/results3.sd?gameid=306791| accessdate=2008-03-31] Horlock made 232 league and cup appearances, scoring 44 goals, in seven years at Manchester City.cite web |title=Kevin Horlock |work=Soccerbase |publisher=Racing Post |url=http://www.soccerbase.com/players_details.sd?playerid=3617 |accessdate=2008-03-31]

Other clubs

Horlock was signed by Glenn Roeder for West Ham United for a fee of £300,000 in August 2003. [cite news|title=West Ham sign Horlock |publisher=BBC Sport |date=2003-08-15 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/w/west_ham_utd/3152593.stm |accessdate=2008-03-31 ] He made 27 league appearances for West Ham in the 2003–04 seasoncite news |title= Ipswich seal Horlock deal|publisher=BBC Sport |date=2004-07-09 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/i/ipswich_town/3880133.stm |accessdate=2008-03-31] but fell out of favour with manager Alan Pardew and missed the play-offs games at the end of the season. He was given a free transfer to Ipswich Town in July 2004, where he made 58 league appearances before joining Doncaster Rovers on loan in February 2006 [cite news |title= Rovers extend duo's loan spells |publisher=BBC Sport |date=2006-03-07 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/d/doncaster/4781428.stm |accessdate=2008-03-31] and being allowed to leave Ipswich at the end of the 2005–06 season. [cite news |title=Ipswich clear way to Horlock exit |publisher=BBC Sport |date=2006-01-10 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/i/ipswich_town/4597928.stm |accessdate=2008-03-31] He joined Doncaster on a permanent two-year contract in May 2006 [cite news |title=Doncaster swoop to sign Horlock |publisher=BBC Sport |date=2006-05-15 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/d/doncaster/4771879.stm |accessdate=2008-03-31] but missed the majority of the 2006–07 season due to a serious knee injury sustained in Doncaster's 3–1 victory over Crewe Alexandra in August 2006. [cite news |title=Horlock faces lengthy spell out |publisher=BBC Sport |date=2006-10-12 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/d/doncaster/6044028.stm |accessdate=2008-03-31] A dislocated shoulder further restricted his opportunities, and in January 2008 his contract was cancelled by mutual consent. [cite news| title = Veteran Horlock leaves Doncaster | publisher = BBC Sport| date=2008-01-07 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/d/doncaster/7175549.stm | accessdate = 2008-01-07] The next day, Horlock was signed by Scunthorpe United on a contract until the end of the season. [cite news|title = Scunthorpe bag midfielder Horlock | publisher = BBC Sport | date=2008-01-08 |url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/scunthorpe_utd/7176785.stm| accessdate = 2008-01-09] However, he did not feature in the first team and joined Mansfield Town in March 2008 on loan until the end of the 2007–08 season. [cite news| title = Stags bag Horlock and Wainwright | publisher = BBC Sport| date=2008-03-21 |url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/mansfield_town/7307685.stm| accessdate = 2008-03-21] Horlock signed for Eastern Counties League Premier Division side Needham Market as player/assistant manager on a twelve-month contract on 8 August 2008.cite news
title = HORLOCK COUP FOR NEEDHAM| url = http://www.nonleaguedaily.com/news/index.php?&newsmode=FULL&nid=51770| publisher = NonLeagueDaily.com| date = 2008-08-08| accessdate = 2008-08-08]

Representative honours

Horlock was first capped in April 1995 versus Latvia and went on to make 32 appearances for Northern Ireland, before retiring from international football in 2003 for personal reasons. [cite news| title = Horlock quits international scene| publisher = BBC Sport| date=2003-03-27 |url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/northern_ireland/2891883.stm| accessdate = 2008-03-31]

References

External links

*soccerbase|id=3617|name=Kevin Horlock