{{Short description|American rugby league & gridiron player}} {{Use mdy dates|date=October 2023}} {{Use American English|date=October 2023}} {{infobox rugby league biography | name = Alvin Kirkland | position = {{rlp|WG|CE|FE}} | club1 = {{nowrap|Parramatta}} | year1start = 1956 | appearances1 = 18 | tries1 = 4 | goals1 = 0 | fieldgoals1 = 0 | points1 = 12 | club2 = {{nowrap|Leeds RLFC}} | year2start = 1957 | year2end = 58 | appearances2 = | tries2 = | goals2 = 0 | fieldgoals2 = 0 | points2 = | teamA = {{nowrap|{{rlnt|United States}}}} | yearAstart = 1953 | appearancesA = 14 | triesA = 11 | goalsA = 0 | fieldgoalsA = 0 | pointsA = 33 }}
'''Alvin Kirkland''' is an American former American football and rugby league player. Kirkland was a member of the "American All Stars" rugby league team<ref name="The Sydney Morning Herald - 17 August 2015 - Success of San Francisco 49ers 'rugby player' Jarryd Hayne in NFL is good for NRL">{{cite news|url=https://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/success-of-san-francisco-49ers-rugby-player-jarryd-hayne-in-nfl-is-good-for-nrl-20150817-gj0nhz.html|title=Success of San Francisco 49ers 'rugby player' Jarryd Hayne in NFL is good for NRL|last=Walter|first=Brad|date=17 August 2015|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|publisher=Fairfax Media|accessdate=26 December 2017}}</ref> a team made up of American college football players that went on the 1953 American All Stars tour of Australia and New Zealand. None of them had played rugby league before the tour.<ref name="news.com.au - 1 September 2015 - USA Tomahawks: A brief history of American rugby league">{{cite news|url=http://www.news.com.au/sport/nrl/usa-tomahawks-a-brief-history-of-american-rugby-league/news-story/6622215d37182e212ed80d4cf14e85fd|title=USA Tomahawks: A brief history of American rugby league|last=Campton|first=Nick|date=1 September 2015|work=news.com.au|publisher=News Corp Australia|accessdate=26 December 2017}}</ref> Kirkland returned to Australia in 1956, and played all regular season matches for the Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club in that year's New South Wales Rugby Football League season.<ref name="The Guardian - 23 December 2017 - Will new rugby league clubs in the US and Canada pick up college footballers?">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/no-helmets-required/2017/dec/22/rugby-league-nfl-college-football-us|title=Will new rugby league clubs in the US and Canada pick up college footballers?|last=Willacy|first=Gavin|date=23 December 2013|newspaper=The Guardian|accessdate=30 April 2022}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [https://afltables.com/rl/scorers/players/A/Al_Kirkland.html Al Kirkland's statistics from AFL Tables website]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirkland, Alvin}} Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people Category:American rugby league players Category:Leeds Rhinos players Category:Parramatta Eels players Category:United States national rugby league team players