Kevin Hird (born 11 February 1955) is an English former
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 ...
who played as a
midfielder or
right back. He played in the Football League for
Blackburn Rovers,
Leeds United and
Burnley. He started his career as a
midfielder before being converted into a
right back.
Early life
Hird was born in
Colne on 11 February 1955, and grew up as a
Burnley fan.
Career
Hird developed through
Blackburn Rovers's youth academy, joining as an apprentice in October 1970 and turning professional in February 1973.
He made his first team debut for the club towards the end of the 1973–74 season.
He was overlooked during the 1974–75 season as Blackburn were promoted from the
Third Division
In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below.
Association football
*Belgian Thir ...
as champions, but featured more frequently the following season.
Having started his career as a right-sided
midfielder, he was successfully converted into a
right back during the 1976–77 season by manager
Jim Smith.
Hird signed for
First Division club
Leeds United in March 1979 for a fee of £357,000, a record fee for both clubs and the highest fee paid for a full-back in British football at the time.
At Leeds, he was again used both as a midfielder and as a right back, and was noted for his "eye-catching" dribbling skills.
He was Leeds' top scorer for the 1979–80 season, albeit with just 8 goals, and held the responsibility of penalty-taker for three seasons. In total, he made 200 appearances for Leeds and scored 21 goals.
In summer 1984, Hird joined Third Division club
Burnley.
He scored 16 league goals in his first season at the club as they were relegated to the
Fourth Division
Fourth or the fourth may refer to:
* the ordinal form of the number 4
* ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971
* Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision
* Fourth (music), a musical interval
* ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...
.
He remained at the club for a further season before joining non-league
Colne Dynamoes.
Personal life
In January 2008, Hird was accused of police assault after allegedly slapping a female police officer across the face after urinating in the street. Hird admitted to the charge, and was conditionally discharged for six months and ordered to pay £60 costs.
References
External links
Profile at leeds-fans.org.uk*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hird, Kevin
Living people
1955 births
People from Colne
Footballers from Lancashire
English men's footballers
Men's association football midfielders
Men's association football fullbacks
Leeds United F.C. players
Blackburn Rovers F.C. players
Burnley F.C. players
Colne Dynamoes F.C. players
English Football League players