{{short description|English footballer (born 1971)}} {{About|the English footballer|the English indoor soccer player|Paul Kitson (footballer, born 1956)}} {{use British English|date=July 2013}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}} {{Infobox football biography |name = Paul Kitson |fullname = Paul Kitson<ref name="Hugman2003-04">{{Cite book | editor-first = Barry J. | editor-last = Hugman | title = The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2003/2004 | year = 2003 | publisher = Queen Anne Press | isbn = 1-85291-651-6 | page = 248}}</ref> |birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1971|1|9|df=y}}<ref name="Hugman2003-04"/> |birth_place = Murton, England |height = {{height|m=1.80}}<ref name="Hugman2003-04"/> |position = Striker |youthyears1 = 1988–1989 |youthclubs1 = Leicester City |years1 = 1989–1992 |years2 = 1992–1994 |years3 = 1994–1997 |years4 = 1997–2002 |years5 = 1999–2000 |years6 = 2000 |years7 = 2002–2003 |years8 = 2003–2004 |years9 = 2005 |clubs1 = Leicester City |clubs2 = Derby County |clubs3 = Newcastle United |clubs4 = West Ham United |clubs5 = → Charlton Athletic (loan) |clubs6 = → Crystal Palace (loan) |clubs7 = Brighton & Hove Albion |clubs8 = Rushden & Diamonds |clubs9 = Aldershot Town |caps1 = 50 |caps2 = 105 |caps3 = 36 |caps4 = 63 |caps5 = 6 |caps6 = 4 |caps7 = 10 |caps8 = 28 |caps9 = 1 |goals1 = 6 |goals2 = 36 |goals3 = 10 |goals4 = 18 |goals5 = 1 |goals6 = 0 |goals7 = 2 |goals8 = 5 |goals9 = 0 |totalcaps = 303 |totalgoals = 78 |nationalyears1 = 1991–1992 |nationalteam1 = England U21 |nationalcaps1 = 7 |nationalgoals1 = 3 |medaltemplates = }} '''Paul Kitson''' (born 9 January 1971) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker.
He notably played in the Premier League for Newcastle United and West Ham United, as well as in the Football League with Leicester City, Derby County, Charlton Athletic, Crystal Palace, Brighton & Hove Albion, Rushden & Diamonds, and Aldershot Town. He was capped seven times by England U21, scoring 3 goals.
==Career== ===Leicester City=== Kitson began his career as a trainee at Leicester City in 1988.<ref name="Soccerbase">{{cite web|url=https://www.soccerbase.com/players/player.sd?player_id=4241|title=Paul Kitson |work=Soccerbase|publisher=Racing Post|access-date=18 July 2008}}</ref> In one season at Leicester, Kitson and Ian Baraclough, his striking partner, scored 60 or so goals between them for the youth and reserve sides.<ref name="All-rounder in a square hole">{{cite news|title=All-rounder in a square hole|last=Lightbown|first=Chris |date=12 March 1995|work=Sport|publisher=The Sunday Times|location=London|pages=2/22}}</ref> Baraclough was sold to Grimsby Town,<ref name="All-rounder in a square hole" /> while Kitson scored 11 goals in 63 appearances for the Leicester first-team,<ref name="Who's Who of West Ham United">{{cite book|last=Hogg|first=Tony|title=Who's Who of West Ham United|publisher=Profile|location=London|year=2005|isbn=1-903135-50-8|page=121}}</ref> and joined Derby County for a club record of £1.3 million transfer fee in March 1992, made up of £800,000 with Phil Gee and Ian Ormondroyd moving to Leicester in part exchange.<ref name="Kitson in Pounds 1.3m move to Derby">{{cite news|title=Kitson in Pounds 1.3m move to Derby|last=Taylor|first=Louise |date=11 March 1992| work= The Times |location=London}}</ref> Derby manager Arthur Cox described him as having "...all the qualities to develop into an outstanding player".<ref name="Kitson in Pounds 1.3m move to Derby" /> and Kitson went on to score 49 goals in 132 appearances in two and a half years at Derby.<ref name="Who's Who of West Ham United" />
===Derby County=== His arrival at the Baseball Ground came in the final quarter of the 1991–92 season, the last season before the creation of the FA Premier League from the top flight of English football. Derby, bankrolled by wealthy new chairman Lionel Pickering, were spending heavily as they looked to win promotion from the Second Division to the new super league, and ironically one of their biggest promotion rivals were Kitson's former club and arguably Derby's biggest rivals – Leicester City. Kitson scored four times in 12 appearances as the 1991–92 season drew to a close, but defeat to Blackburn Rovers in the playoffs semifinals meant that third placed Derby would be denied a Wembley playoff final meeting with Kitson's former club and most crucially the chance of a place in the new Premier League.
Further heavy spending followed this disappointment, but Derby failed to make a serious challenge for promotion from the new Division One (which they had been widely expected to dominate) in 1992–93 but it was still a good personal season for Kitson, who scored 17 times in 44 league games. He added 13 goals to his league tally in 1993–94, and Derby reached the playoff final, where they were beaten 2–1 by Kitson's old club, Leicester City. He began the 1994–95 season still a Derby player, but after scoring two goals in eight games that season he was on his way out of the club after two and a half years and 36 goals from 105 league games.
===Newcastle United=== Newcastle United made an offer of £2,250,000 for Kitson in September 1994, which was initially turned down by Derby chairman and majority shareholder Lionel Pickering who felt that Kitson was worth between £3 and £4 million.<ref name="Pickering relents">{{cite news|title=Pickering relents and allows Kitson to go|date=22 September 1994|work=The Times |location=London|page=48}}</ref> However, Pickering was outvoted 4–1 by the club's directors and reluctantly agreed to the transfer, which went ahead on 24 September.<ref name="Pickering relents" /> The deal almost collapsed when Newcastle refused to adjust their pay structure and accommodate Kitson's personal demands<ref name="Kitson's move collapses">{{cite news|title=Kitson's move collapses under agent's demands|last=Taylor|first=Louise |author2=John Goodbody|date=23 September 1994 |work= The Times |location=London}}</ref> and a bid was made by Everton, but the deal went through less than 24 hours after Pickering said that ''"God must be a Derby fan"'' and Freddie Fletcher, chief executive of Newcastle, had said the deal was ''"dead and buried"'', with Kitson signing a three-year contract at £3,500 a week.<ref name="Keegan captures Kitson">{{cite news|title=Keegan captures Kitson|last=Wilson|first=Peter|date=25 September 1994|publisher=The Sunday Times|location=London}}</ref> He scored his first goal for Newcastle in the 2–0 win over Manchester United in the third round of the League Cup in October 1994, though he was still very much the club's "backup" striker behind Andy Cole and Peter Beardsley.<ref name="United's youthful resistance">{{cite news|title=Albert breaks down United's youthful resistance| last=Ball| first=Peter|date=27 October 1994|work=The Times |location=London|page=48}}</ref> However, when Cole was sold to Manchester United in January 1995, found himself at centre-forward for the second half of the 1994–95 season. He had a decent campaign, scoring eight goals in 26 games, though 1994–95 is generally remembered as a disappointing season for Newcastle, who began it as many people's title favourites with six successive wins but ended up finishing sixth – not even enough for a UEFA Cup place.<ref name="Anfield of dreams">{{cite news|title=Anfield of dreams|last=Lovejoy|first=Joe|date=31 December 1995 |publisher=The Sunday Times|location=London}}</ref>
However, the arrival of Les Ferdinand during the 1995 close season meant that Kitson was once again a squad player as the 1995–96 season got underway, and the arrival of Faustino Asprilla in mid season further reduced his first team chances. Newcastle finished second that season after being overhauled in the second half campaign by a Manchester United side who sealed the title by a five-point margin barely four months after Newcastle had led by 10 points, but Kitson's part in Newcastle's exciting though ultimately disappointing campaign had been minimal as he had played just seven league games and scored twice. But he remained loyal to the Magpies even after another blow at the end of July 1996: the arrival of £15 million world record signing Alan Shearer. He managed three Premier League appearances as Newcastle were once again under the title challengers, before finally leaving on 10 February 1997 in a £2.3 million switch to Premier League strugglers West Ham United. His departure from Tyneside was relatively quiet, coming just weeks after one of the most momentous events in the club's history: the resignation of manager Kevin Keegan.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sporting-heroes.net/football-heroes/displayhero_club.asp?HeroID=41436 |title=Paul Kitson – Newcastle United FC – Football-Heroes.net |publisher=Sporting-heroes.net |accessdate=3 July 2010}}</ref>
===West Ham United=== West Ham were fighting against relegation from the Premier League when Kitson joined them.<ref name="Kitson Pops in for Harry">{{cite news|title=Kitson Pops in for Harry|last=Richards|first=Alan |date=7 February 1997 |work=The Sun|location=London}}</ref> West Ham's assistant manager Frank Lampard said, ''"The last man we signed from Newcastle was Bryan 'Pop' Robson in the 1970s and Paul has the same qualities. He is quick, sharp and has good physical attributes."''<ref name="Kitson Pops in for Harry" /> He made his home debut, against Tottenham Hotspur on 22 February 1997, which West Ham won 4–3. Kitson scored West Ham's second goal, with other new signing John Hartson getting the third goal to also score on his debut.<ref>{{cite web|title=Spurs lose in seven-goal thriller|url=http://www.whufc.com/articles/20071018/spurs-lose-in-seven-goal-thriller_2236895_1328692|publisher=whufc.com|accessdate=30 March 2012|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012035520/http://www.whufc.com/articles/20071018/spurs-lose-in-seven-goal-thriller_2236895_1328692|archivedate=12 October 2013}}</ref> This marked the beginning of what is still arguably West Ham's finest strikeforce since the Tony Cottee/Frank McAvennie partnership of the 1980s, and a contrast following the disappointing spells of strikers like Florin Raducioiu and Paulo Futre.
Kitson bagged two against Chelsea in a 3–2 win,<ref>{{cite news |title=Football: Kitson keeps the Hammers happy |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football-kitson-keeps-the-hammers-happy-1272663.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220525/https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football-kitson-keeps-the-hammers-happy-1272663.html |archive-date=25 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |work=Independent.co.uk |date=13 March 1997|last=Moore|first=Glenn |accessdate=28 April 2012}}</ref> two against Everton in a 2–2 draw,<ref>{{cite news |title=Football: Black spot for bright Kitson |first=Dave |last=Hadfield |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football-black-spot-for-bright-kitson-1268302.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220525/https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football-black-spot-for-bright-kitson-1268302.html |archive-date=25 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |work=Independent.co.uk |date=20 April 1997 |accessdate=28 April 2012}}</ref> and bagged a hat-trick against Sheffield Wednesday in a 5–1 win.<ref>{{cite news|title=Football: Hartson and Kitson silence Pleat's lambs|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football-hartson-and-kitson-silence-pleats-lambs-1259815.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220525/https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football-hartson-and-kitson-silence-pleats-lambs-1259815.html |archive-date=25 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|accessdate=30 March 2012|newspaper=The Independent|location=London|date=5 May 1997}}</ref> West Ham survived relegation despite a tough season and finished 14th, with Kitson's eight goals in 14 league games being priceless to their survival.<ref name="sporting-heroes1">{{cite web|url=http://sporting-heroes.net/football-heroes/displayhero_club.asp?HeroID=41437 |title=Paul Kitson – West Ham United FC – Football-Heroes.net |publisher=Sporting-heroes.net |accessdate=3 July 2010}}</ref>
Subsequent seasons at Upton Park were not quite so successful, with the 1997–98 seeing Kitson restricted to 13 games and 4 goals in the Premier League (though the Hammers improved to eighth in the league and just missed out on a UEFA Cup place in their best season for over a decade), and a year later he contributed 17 games and 3 goals to a side which finished fifth to secure UEFA Cup football and their first European campaign in almost 20 years.<ref name="sporting-heroes1"/>
However, Kitson's first team opportunities were becoming even more limited, as he made 10 goalless league appearances in 1999–2000 and just two in 2000–01. After a long period without scoring he surprisingly scored a hat-trick in the 4–4 draw with Charlton Athletic on 19 November 2001 for West Ham, a match that he considers to be the highlight of a career in which he failed to live up to his vast potential. The first of these goals was a blistering right foot volley after a through ball from Paolo Di Canio – it was voted number three by the West Ham supporters' association poll of their top 10 goals of the decade. These were the only goals he scored in the 2001–02 season – his last at the club.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/johansson-takes-the-gloss-off-kitson-hattrick-617528.html |title=Johansson takes the gloss off Kitson hat-trick – Premier League, Football |work=The Independent |date=20 November 2001 |accessdate=3 July 2010 | location=London | first=Steve | last=Tongue}} {{dead link|date=August 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>
===Charlton Athletic and Crystal Palace=== During his final three seasons at West Ham, Kitson was loaned out to Charlton Athletic and Crystal Palace, but neither of these spells was particularly productive. He scored once for Charlton, with his goal coincidentally coming against the club he would soon join on loan: Crystal Palace.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2000/mar/27/match.sport13 |title=Charlton brush off Palace on brink of the abyss |work=The Guardian |date=27 March 2000 |accessdate=11 April 2012}}</ref>
==Personal life== On 21 April 2018, Kitson was accused of gambling £25,000 that he was meant to be putting towards paying off his debts, after he was declared bankrupt the previous year.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/bankrupt-football-hero-paul-kitson-12403302| title = Bankrupt footballer Paul Kitson accused of blowing £25,000 on betting rather than paying debts | website = Daily Mirror| date = 21 April 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/news/paul-kitson-gambling-debts-1487926|title=Former Rams striker accused of blowing £25k on betting rather than debts|newspaper=Derbyshirelive|date=23 April 2018}}</ref> In 2021, Kitson was banned from driving for 22 months and fined £550 after being found guilty of drink driving. Kitson had crashed into his neighbour's fence in Billingham after a 10-hour drinking session.<ref name="Payne 2021">{{cite web | last=Payne | first=Mark | title=Ex-Newcastle United striker Paul Kitson crashed into neighbour's fence after 10-hour drinking session near Hartlepool | website=Hartlepool Mail | date=12 May 2021 | url=https://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/news/crime/ex-newcastle-united-striker-paul-kitson-crashed-into-neighbours-fence-after-10-hour-drinking-session-near-hartlepool-3233695 | access-date=15 June 2023}}</ref>
==Honours== ;West Ham *UEFA Intertoto Cup: 1999<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/sport/football/429277.stm|title=Intertoto win gives Hammers Uefa spot |publisher=BBC |date=24 August 1999 |access-date=12 September 2018}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kitson, Paul}} Category:1971 births Category:Living people Category:People from Murton, County Durham Category:Footballers from County Durham Category:Men's association football forwards Category:English men's footballers Category:England men's under-21 international footballers Category:Leicester City F.C. players Category:Derby County F.C. players Category:Newcastle United F.C. players Category:West Ham United F.C. players Category:Charlton Athletic F.C. players Category:Crystal Palace F.C. players Category:Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Category:Rushden & Diamonds F.C. players Category:Aldershot Town F.C. players Category:English Football League players Category:Premier League players Category:National League (English football) players Category:People educated at Easington Community Science College