Kirk Hudson (born 12 December 1986) is an English 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 ...

who played as a

right winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

, most notably for

Aldershot Town Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area i ...

. He also played league football for

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

and

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest division of English club football. Formed in 1899 as B ...

Career

Youth years

, Hudson began his career as a schoolboy with

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

. He entered the

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 ...

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

in 2004 and was a part of the team which finished as runners-up in the 2004 Jersey International Tournament. Hudson won the 2004–05 SPL U19 League and

Scottish Youth Cup The Scottish Youth Cup (also known as the SFA Youth Cup) is an annual Scottish football competition run by the Scottish Football Association for under-18 teams,

double with the U19 team, but was released in May 2005.

AFC Bournemouth

During the 2005–06

pre-season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of Se ...

, Hudson joined

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 ...

club

on trial and impressed enough to sign a three-month contract on 5 August 2005. He was a regular inclusion on the substitutes' bench early in the regular season and made his professional debut as a late substitute for James Keene in a 2–1 win over

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at ...

on 17 September. Hudson again appeared as a late substitute in the following

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

match, but was not called into the squad again and was released at the end of his contract.

Aldershot Town

Football Conference (2006–2008)

After a non-playing spell with

Conference South The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the N ...

club

Thurrock Thurrock () is a unitary authority area with borough status and unparished area in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. It is part of the London commuter belt and an area of regeneration within the Thames Gateway redevelopment zone. The l ...

and failing a trial with League One high-flyers

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

, Hudson joined

Conference Premier The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profess ...

club

on trial in January 2006. He made his debut with a start in a

Hampshire Senior Cup The Hampshire Senior Cup is a cup competition open to football teams affiliated with the Hampshire Football Association. The competition was founded in 1887 and has been contested every year since, with the exception of 1914 to 1919 when it was p ...

quarter-final match versus

Basingstoke Town Basingstoke Town Football Club is a football club based in Basingstoke, Hampshire, England. The club are currently members of the and play at the Winklebury Sports Complex. Their motto, 'Vestigia Nulla Retrorsum', means 'Never a step backward' ...

on 14 January and scored both the Shots' goals in the 3–2 defeat. After the match, he joined the club on non-contract terms and made his league debut with a late substitute cameo in a 3–1 victory over

Halifax Town FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in and play at the Shay. They replaced Halifax Town A.F.C., which went into administration in the 2007–08 season. ...

on 21 January. After recovering from a bout of

mumps MUMPS ("Massachusetts General Hospital Utility Multi-Programming System"), or M, is an imperative, high-level programming language with an integrated transaction processing key–value database. It was originally developed at Massachusetts Gener ...

, Hudson was a regular in the team through to the end of the season and finished 2005–06 with 13 appearances and four goals. He signed a permanent contract in July 2006. After three substitute appearances early in the 2006–07 season, Hudson joined Southern League Western Division club Ashford Town (Middlesex) on a one-month

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...

, which was later extended for a second month. He made four league appearances. Upon his return to Aldershot Town in November 2006, he was utilised as an impact substitute and scored four goals in six appearances during the club's Hampshire Senior Cup-winning campaign. Hudson signed a new one-year contract in April 2007 and had an excellent 2007–08 season, making 48 appearances and scoring 12 goals to help the Shots to the Conference Premier title and promotion to the

. He also contributed to Aldershot's Conference League Cup Final victory over

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 ...

(scoring a goal in the 3–3 draw and then converting a

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

in the deciding

shootout A shootout, also called a firefight or gunfight, is a fight between armed combatants using firearms. The term can be used to describe any such fight, though it is typically used to describe those that do not involve military forces or only invo ...

), in addition to winning the February 2008 Conference Premier Player of the Month award and being voted the Conference Young Player of the Year. Hudson signed a new two-year contract in March 2008.

Football League (2008–2010)

Now playing

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 ...

football, Hudson began the 2008–09 season as a regular starter, but despite scoring five goals by mid-November 2008, manager Garry Waddock felt the need to challenge him to play with more consistency. Hudson responded by scoring three goals in four matches in December, which earned him a nomination for the

League Two Player of the Month The EFL League Two Player of the Month is an association football award that recognises the player adjudged the best for each month of the season in EFL League Two, the English football league system, fourth tier of English football. Originally na ...

award. A season of consolidation in the Football League ended with Hudson having made 48 appearances and scored 13 goals, an improvement on his figures of the previous season in the Conference Premier. Despite again beginning the season as a starter, Hudson found the going harder in 2009–10, in a Shots team pushing for a playoff place. He lost his starting place in January 2010 and only regained it for four matches in March. Just two defeats from the final 11 matches of the season saw Aldershot finish sixth, which qualified the club for a

playoff The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

place. The Shots were defeated 3–0 on aggregate to

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

in the semi-finals and Hudson made what would be his final appearance for the club as a second-half substitute in the second leg on 19 May. Hudson was released by manager

Kevin Dillon Kevin Brady Dillon (born August 19, 1965) is an American actor. He is best known for portraying Johnny "Drama" Chase on the HBO comedy series ''Entourage'', Bunny in the war film ''Platoon'', and John Densmore in the musical biopic ''The Doors ...

after the defeat and he finished his career at the

Recreation Ground A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are green spaces set aside for recreation inside towns and cities. N ...

with 172 appearances and 42 goals.

Brentford

On 28 June 2010, Hudson joined League One club

on a two-year contract for a fee that was later decided by an "amicable agreement". Manager Andy Scott stated in early July that he hoped to convert Hudson into a

centre forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

. Hudson picked up a groin injury a week before the beginning of the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

season, but returned to fitness in September and made his debut as a substitute for

Nicky Adams Nicholas William Adams (born 16 October 1986) is a professional Association football, footballer who plays as a winger and wing back for Northern Premier League Premier Division club Radcliffe F.C., Radcliffe. Although he was born in England, h ...

after 66 minutes of a 1–0 defeat to Leyton Orient late in the month. Hudson made just three further substitute appearances over the following six weeks and requested a loan move in November 2010. On 31 December 2010, Hudson reunited with his former Aldershot Town manager Terry Brown on loan at Conference Premier club

AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional Association football, football club, based in London Borough of Merton, Merton, London, that plays in the EFL League Two, after being relegated from the EFL League One following the 2021–22 EFL Leagu ...

. Despite missing three weeks with a recurrence of the groin injury suffered in July 2010, Hudson made 14 appearances and scored one goal during the remainder of the

season. Hudson was ruled out of the early months of the 2011–12 season with a hip injury suffered in July 2011. After returning to fitness in October, potential loan moves to Southend United and

Hayes & Yeading United Hayes & Yeading United Football Club is an association football club based in Hayes, in the London Borough of Hillingdon, England. The club was formed in 2007 from a merger of Hayes Football Club (founded in 1909) and Yeading Football Club (f ...

fell through and he departed

Griffin Park Griffin Park was a football ground in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow, England. It was the home ground of Brentford F.C. from its opening in September 1904 to August 2020. The ground is in a predominantly residential area and was ...

by mutual consent on 12 March 2012, having failed to win a call into the first team squad since November 2010.

Return to non-League football

On 21 August 2012, Hudson joined

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...

Premier Division club Canvey Island. He made just three substitute appearances before departing the club on 20 September. Hudson later played for Essex Olympian League clubs White Ensign and Shoebury Town.

Personal life

Hudson is an

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

supporter. As of November 2005, he was living in

Shoeburyness Shoeburyness (; also called Shoebury) is a suburb of the city of Southend-on-Sea, in the City of Southend-on-Sea, in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. east of the city centre. It was an urban district of Essex from 1894 to 1933, when it ...

Career statistics

Honours

Aldershot Town *

: 2007–08 * Conference League Cup: 2007–08 *

: 2006–07 Individual * Football Conference Young Player of the Year: 2007–08 * Football Conference Premier Player of the Month: February 2008

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hudson, Kirk 1986 births Living people People from Rochford Men's association football forwards English men's footballers Ipswich Town F.C. players Celtic F.C. players AFC Bournemouth players Thurrock F.C. players Aldershot Town F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Ashford Town (Middlesex) F.C. players AFC Wimbledon players Canvey Island F.C. players White Ensign F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Isthmian League players Black British sportsmen Men's association football wingers Southern Football League players Footballers from Essex