Dave Kitson

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Dave Kitson
Personal information
Full name	David Barry Kitson
Date of birth	21 January 1980 (1980-01-21) (age 28)
Place of birth	Hitchin, England
Height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Reading
Number	12
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2000–2001 2001–2003 2003–	Arlesey Town Cambridge United Reading	00? 0(?) 102 (40) 135 (54)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20:13, 11 May 2008 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

David Barry Kitson (born 21 January 1980, Hitchin, England) is an English footballer, currently playing for Reading in the Premier League.

Contents 1 Club career 1.1 Cambridge United 1.2 Reading 2 International career 3 Personal life 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Club career

[edit] Cambridge United

One of the most exciting and talented players that has played for Cambridge United and Arlesey Town near the bottom of the football pyramid in the past few years, the gangly striker was a prolific asset to the team, scoring on a regular basis for Cambridge. 'Kits' has all the attributes of a quality striker: strength, pace and an ability to find the net from just about anywhere around the box. All this despite never being considered good enough to play professional football as a youngster; indeed, in his late teens Kitson gave up on football with his local club Hitchin Town, and concentrated on his day job at national supermarket chain Sainsbury's, as a frozen food stacker.^[1] Luckily for both him and his future clubs he was snapped up by Cambridge after being spotted playing against their reserve side in a friendly for non-league Arlesey Town.

[edit] Reading

His sale to Reading on 26 December 2003 for £150,000 was the cause of some controversy at Cambridge as fans believed he was worth much more than the fee the club had received (although it has since been reported this figure has risen, thanks to appearance related bonuses and a promotion bonus clause activated after Reading's promotion to the Premiership on 25 March 2006^[2]). It was an especially sore loss as it came just weeks after the fans had themselves raised £100,000, a sum they believed would safeguard the financial future of the club and allow them to hold on to playing assets. As it turned out, Cambridge fans may well have been right as Kitson appears to indeed have been a bargain for the Royals, going on to score five goals in just 10 starts in his first season. In the 2004–05 season, despite injury he went on to record an impressive goals-to-game ratio, and continued to do so as Reading marched to the Championship title and promotion to the Premiership during the 2005–06 season. Off the field, Kitson's positive media image has led to him doing a number of 'Football in the Community' activities and has attended Reading fans' forums in the past.

Following promotion to the Premier League with Reading, Kitson's joy at scoring Reading's first goal of the season was tempered when he was injured as a result of a reckless tackle, that was labelled by most of the Sky commentators, and footballing great Gary Lineker a red card, by Chris Riggott in Reading's 3–2 home win against Middlesbrough on the opening day of the 2006–07 season.^[3] The injury kept him out of the game until Reading's FA Cup victory over Birmingham City on 27 January 2007.^[4] On 27 March 2007, he committed his future to Reading, signing a new deal to keep him at the club until June 2010.^[5]

Kitson's opening-day blues continued at the start of 2007–08, when he was sent off less than a minute after coming on as a substitute for Reading against Manchester United, for a late challenge on Patrice Evra. As of 21 September 2007, he has the record for the fastest sending off in the 2007–08 season. He scored in a 2–1 loss against Sunderland. On 1 December 2007, after scoring in Reading's 1–1 home draw with Middlesbrough, Kitson became the highest scorer at Reading's Madejski Stadium with 37 goals, taking the record from Nicky Forster.^[6] In January 2008 he made some controversial comments regarding the FA Cup, saying "We are not going to win the FA Cup and I do not care less about it, to be honest."^[7]

[edit] International career

Kitson has an Irish grandparent, and in January 2006 Steve Staunton, upon his appointment as the manager of the Republic of Ireland team, announced his intention to persuade Kitson to represent Ireland in international football, along with Manchester City midfielder Stephen Ireland. However Kitson declined Staunton's offer, as he only believes in playing for the country in which you are born.

[edit] Personal life

On 9 January 2008, Kitson was stopped by police whilst driving late at night near his home in Shinfield, Berkshire, and was charged with failing to provide a breath sample.^[8] He appeared at Reading Magistrates' Court on 18 January 2008, and received an 18-month driving ban, a £1000 fine, and was ordered to pay £60 costs.^[9]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Dave Kitson profile at readingfc.co.uk
• Dave Kitson career stats at Soccerbase

v • d • e Reading F.C. – current squad 1 Hahnemann • 2 Murty • 3 Shorey • 4 Cissé • 5 Sonko • 6 Gunnarsson • 7 Little • 8 Lita • 9 Doyle • 10 Hunt • 12 Kitson • 15 Harper • 16 Ingimarsson • 17 Convey • 18 Sodje • 19 Rosenior • 20 Faé • 22 Bikey • 24 Long • 25 Bennett • 26 Osano • 28 Matějovský • 29 Duberry • 30 Kébé • 32 Federici • 33 Golbourne • 34 Henry • 35 Pearce • 36 Andersen • 39 Church • 40 Karacan • 41 Hamer • 42 Bozanic • 43 Illugason • 44 Davies • Manager: Coppell

Persondata
NAME	Kitson, David Barry
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Footballer
DATE OF BIRTH	21 January 1980
PLACE OF BIRTH	Hitchin, England
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH