K is for kick-off (and kangaroos, but that feels irrelevant) and the 23rd edition of the World Cup is just about to do just that.
But before then feast your eyes on the England K-Team, featuring two of Thomas Tuchel’s summer squad…
Goalkeeper: Chris Kirkland
Two goalkeepers with two caps between them, Chris Kirkland and Matt Kingsley are the only options available in the nets.
Kingsley was the first Newcastle United player to win an England cap and his only appearance came in a 6-0 win over Wales in 1901, whilst Kirkland’s solitary game for the Three Lions was a 4-0 triumph against European Champions Greece in 2006. If you fancy a goalkeeper challenge, try naming the long-serving Portsmouth ‘keeper who lined-up for the Under-21 side in the early eighties but never gained full international honours.
Right-back: Ezri Konsa
Unlike the J-Team, the Ks don’t have many candidates at right-back so Ezri Konsa will start with 2 on his back, the very number Thomas Tuchel has given the Aston Villa man for this summer’s World Cup. There’s only one other option for the role, with one being the operative word given former Liverpool and Crystal Palace defender Martin Kelly has a solitary cap to his name after a late substitute appearance against Norway in 2012 that allowed him one touch on the ball.
Left-back: Alan Kennedy
Despite winning six First Division titles with Liverpool and scoring a winner in a European Cup final for the Reds, Alan Kennedy only won two caps for the Three Lions. Kennedy was hugely unlucky to have played in the same era as Arsenal legend Kenny Sansom, who barely missed an England match from 1980 until his international farewell in ’88, leaving the Liverpool left-back as a rarely used reserve.
Centre-back: Martin Keown
Spent years doggedly defending for Arsenal on the field and now spends his time just as determined to defend them from the sidelines. The Highbury hero won his first nine caps whilst on the books at Everton but the bulk of his 43 international appearances came from his time with the Gunners, where he won three Premier League titles and three FA Cups.
Centre-back: Ledley King
A legendary North London duo will link-up at centre-back, with Ledley King joining Keown. The former Spurs skipper was famously plagued by injury problems during his career so there are some defensive replacements if needs be. Michael Keane and Zat Knight provide cover in the middle, whilst Paul Konchesky and King’s fellow White Hart Lane icon Cyril Knowles add depth to the full-back positions.#
Defensive midfield: Tony Kay
There have been a few times in Sheffield Wednesday’s history when having a flutter on the South Yorkshire side to lose was a dead cert, but you wouldn’t expect one of the club’s own players to stick fifty quid on it. In 1963 Tony Kay helped Everton to a league title for the first time since the Second World War and won his first cap for England, but his joy soon turned to despair as he was banned from the game for life. A bet he placed on the Owls to suffer defeat against Ipswich during his days at Hillsborough came to light, resulting in a four-month prison sentence and the end of Kay’s career at the age of just 27.
Defensive midfield: Fred Kean
Kay isn’t the only member of the K-Team to have made the front page instead of the back. Back in 1928, new Bolton Wanderers signing and England star Fred Kean was reported to have died in a car crash shortly after making his debut for the Trotters. Thankfully it transpired to be nothing more than a rumour and Kean went on to play for the Three Lions in one of the most exciting international matches of the decade: a 4-3 defeat to Spain in Madrid.
Attacking midfield: Kevin Keegan
Only 10 players in history have finished top of the Ballon d’Or rankings more than once and Kevin Keegan is the only Englishman amongst that elite band of global icons. King Kev first won the prestigious award in 1978, a year after lifting the European Cup with Liverpool, where he picked up multiple honours before moving to Germany and winning the Bundesliga with Hamburg.
However, his international career wasn’t as fruitful, with England’s dismal qualifying record in the seventies resulting in him having to wait until he was 31 before getting the chance to star in a World Cup. Unfortunately, he wasn’t fit for his moment to shine on the international stage and missed the first group stage before coming on as a substitute in a must-win game against hosts Spain and agonisingly putting a header wide. The 0-0 draw saw the Three Lions knocked out despite not losing a single match and only conceding one goal in five games, leaving a sense of frustration at how 1982 could’ve been a year to remember if Keegan had been at his imperious best.
Attacking midfield: Ray Kennedy
From being released by England legend Stanley Matthews at Port Vale to winning a double in the space of a few years, Ray Kennedy recovered from his Staffordshire setback to become one of the most decorated English players of all-time. 1971 saw Kennedy win the league and FA Cup with Arsenal and he later joined Liverpool, the beaten finalists in that Wembley showpiece. At Anfield he added continental glory to his domestic honours, as part of the club’s first three European Cup victories.
Striker: Brian Kidd
Kennedy was replaced in the Arsenal side by Brian Kidd, who joined the Gunners from boyhood club Manchester United following the club’s shock relegation in 1974. Kidd had burst onto the scene at Old Trafford as a teenager, slotting into a fabulous forward line alongside Ballon d’Or-winning trio George Best, Bobby Charlton and Denis Law. He went on to score in the Red Devils’ 1968 European Cup Final win against Eusebio’s Benfica but Alf Ramsey didn’t grant him an England debut for another two years.
Striker: Harry Kane
Harry Kane has emulated fellow K-Team member Kevin Keegan by winning the Bundesliga and he’ll be hoping to imitate King Kev in another way by lifting the Ballon d’Or. With England, Keegan had the chance to end 16 years of hurt, now Kane’s facing the challenge of 60 and if the Bayern Munich striker can grab another Golden Boot on the way to fulfilling the dreams of Three Lions fans this summer, he’ll have a great chance of winning the top individual prize in football too.
