Andrew Robert Kirk (born 29 May 1979) is a Northern Irish former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

and the current manager of

Brechin City Brechin City Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the townDespite the name of the football club, Brechin is not an official city. Brechin was historically known as a city because it has a cathedral. of Brechin in Angus. The club ...

, in the Highland League. Kirk played for

Glentoran Glentoran Football Club is a professional football club that plays in the NIFL Premiership. The club was founded in 1882. History Early history In 1914, Glentoran won the Vienna Cup, becoming the first United Kingdom team to win a European t ...

, Heart of Midlothian,

Boston United Boston United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The club participates in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The club is known ...

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to: * Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset * Yeovil Town L.F.C. Bridgwater United Women's Football Club are an English women's association football club based in Bridgwater, Somerset who wer ...

Dunfermline Athletic Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently play in Scottish League One after being relegated from the 2021–22 Scottish Championship. Dunfermline ...

and

Alloa Athletic Alloa Athletic Football Club is a Scottish association football semi-professional club based in the town of Alloa, Clackmannanshire. Formed as Alloa in 1880, the football club shortly changed its name to Alloa Association, and then to Alloa Ath ...

. He was also capped by

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. He began his managerial career with Hearts Women before joining Brechin City in 2021.

Early life

Andy Kirk is the son of former footballer and former

Lisburn Distillery Lisburn Distillery Football Club is a Northern Irish intermediate football club who are based in Ballyskeagh, County Down. A founder member of the Irish League, they currently play in the NIFL Premier Intermediate League, the third tier of t ...

manager Paul Kirk.

Playing career

Club

Glentoran

Kirk started his career with Belfast side

and quickly established himself as one of the top strikers in the Irish League, scoring 26 league goals in the 1998-99 season. Kirk enjoyed a successful time with the Glens and under manager Roy Coyle winning the Gold Cup, County Antrim Shield and Irish Premiership title.

Heart of Midlothian

Having had several unsuccessful trials in England. In February 1999 Jim Jefferies signed Kirk for Heart of Midlothian for £50,000. Initially viewed as an investment for the future, Kirk played in the club's U-21 side for most of his first two seasons at

Tynecastle Stadium Tynecastle Park is a football stadium in the Gorgie area of Edinburgh, which is the home ground of Scottish Professional Football League club Heart of Midlothian (Hearts). It has also hosted Scotland international matches, and been used as a ...

. However, in 2000–01 he firmly established himself in the first eleven, making 40 appearances and scoring 13 times. After a season decimated by injuries, he made further double-figure scoring contributions in 2002–03 and 2003–04. However, financial restraints at the

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

club resulted in Kirk being released when his contract expired in the summer of 2004.

Boston United

Steve Evans signed Kirk for English

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

side

. Kirk excelled at

York Street York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a m ...

, scoring 20 goals in little over 8 months.

Northampton Town

In March 2005 Kirk signed for

for a £125,000 fee, signing a three and half-year contract. Despite Kirk scoring on his debut, Northampton lost to

Rushden & Diamonds Rushden & Diamonds Football Club was an association football club based in Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, England. Nicknamed "The Diamonds", the club played at Nene Park. The club's main rivals were county neighbours Kettering Town. The cl ...

and a stuttering finish to the season witnessed them fall in the play-off semi-finals. The following season, Kirk's 10 goals ensured there was no repeat and Northampton gained promotion to

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

. During the 2006–07 season Kirk was transfer listed alongside fellow strikers James Quinn and Scott McGleish. However, Kirk was taken off the transfer list at the beginning of the 2007–08 season and rewarded manager Stuart Gray with 3 goals in the first 3 games.

Yeovil Town

Kirk moved to

on 17 January 2008 for an undisclosed fee. He signed a two and a half-year contract. He scored twice in the first three games for his new club. In summer 2008 Yeovil rejected a bid from

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. It is in Morecambe Bay on the Irish Sea. Name The first use of the name was by John Whitaker in his ''History of Manchester'' (1771), w ...

for Kirk, though they went on to sell him to

Scottish First Division The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. History The First Division was introduced in 1975–76 to replace the old Scottish Football League Division Two, as t ...

team

Dunfermline Athletic

In August 2008 Kirk signed a three-year contract. He made his debut coming on as a sub against First Division rivals

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland. Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908. ...

and scored his first two goals a week later against Queen of the South in a 2–1 win. Kirk has gone on to enjoy the most prolific goal-scoring period of his career with the Pars.

Alloa Athletic

In June 2013 Kirk signed with newly promoted First Division team

having trained with the club in the latter part of the 2012/13 season after being released by Dunfermline due to the club being in administration.

International

Kirk was capped 11 times by

. His debut came against

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

in April 2000. After a four-year absence he played against the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

in October 2009. His most recent appearance was in a friendly against

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

in 2010.

Coaching career

Kirk joined Rangers

Academy An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...

as a youth coach in March 2015. He returned to Edinburgh in February 2016 to coach Heart of Midlothian's U17 team. In December 2016, Kirk became joint interim manager with

Jon Daly Jon Daly, sometimes credited as Jonathan C. Daly, Jon C. Daly or Jonathan Barney Daly, is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer best known for his sketch comedy work on the Comedy Central series ''Kroll Show''. In 2013 he starred as H ...

following

Robbie Neilson Robbie Neilson (born 19 June 1980) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player who is currently the manager of Scottish Premiership club Heart of Midlothian. Neilson, who played as a right-back, started his senior career with ...

's departure. In August 2020, Kirk was appointed the First Team Manager and Girls' Academy Manager of Hearts Women.

Brechin City

In June 2021, Kirk was appointed the manager of Highland League side

Honours

Club

;Glentoran * Irish Premier League: 1998–99 *

Irish Cup The Irish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly referred to as the Irish Cup (currently known as the Samuel Gelston's Whiskey Irish Cup for sponsorship purposes) is the primary football knock-out cup competition in Northern Ireland. Ina ...

: 1997–98 * Gold Cup: 1998–99 *

County Antrim Shield The County Antrim & District Football Association Senior Shield (more commonly known as the County Antrim Shield) is a football competition in Northern Ireland. The competition is open to senior teams who are members of the North East Ulster Foo ...

: 1998–99 ;Dunfermline Athletic *

: 2010–11

Individual

* SFL Player of the Month: August 2010 * SFL Ginger Boot: August 2010

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kirk, Andy 1979 births Association footballers from Belfast Living people Association football forwards Association footballers from Northern Ireland Northern Ireland international footballers Glentoran F.C. players Heart of Midlothian F.C. players Boston United F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players Yeovil Town F.C. players Dunfermline Athletic F.C. players Alloa Athletic F.C. players Scottish Premier League players Scottish Football League players English Football League players NIFL Premiership players Scottish Professional Football League players Rangers F.C. non-playing staff Football managers from Northern Ireland Scottish Women's Premier League managers Heart of Midlothian W.F.C. managers Brechin City F.C. managers Highland Football League managers