Stephen Iain Kingsley (born 23 July 1994) is a Scottish 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 lea ...

who plays for club Heart of Midlothian and the Scotland national team. He has previously played for

Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...

, Swansea City, and Hull City, as well as appearing for Yeovil Town and Crewe Alexandra on loan.

Career

Falkirk

Aged 16, Kingsley made his first-team debut for

on 12 April 2011 in a 2–1 win versus Partick Thistle in the

Scottish First Division The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. It was replaced by the Scottish Championship. History The First Division was introduced in 1975–76 in Scottish footb ...

. He sustained an injury in a 2011–12 Scottish League Cup tie against Brechin City that kept him out of action for over three months. He returned to the starting lineup in a League Cup win against

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...

. In March 2013, Kingsley signed a new contract with Falkirk. Kingsley made his 100th appearance for Falkirk on 5 April 2014, in a 5–0 victory over

Cowdenbeath Cowdenbeath () is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is north-east of Dunfermline and north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a police burgh in 1890. According to a 20 ...

. He was also voted in to the SPFL Championship Team of the Year for season 2013–14.

Swansea City

On 30 June 2014, Kingsley signed for Swansea City on a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee. On 18 February 2015, Kingsley joined English League One side Yeovil Town on a month's emergency loan which was later extended until the end of the season. Kingsley played in numerous positions in his 12 appearances for the Glovers including

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

and midfield, and received praise for his versatility from Yeovil boss Terry Skiverton. Yeovil were subsequently relegated to League Two at the end of the season and Kingsley returned to Swansea City. Kingsley joined English League One side Crewe Alexandra on an emergency loan in August 2015. He made 12 appearances for them before returning to Swansea after the emergency loan expired in November. He made his Swansea City debut in their

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

3–2 defeat away to

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club () is a professional association football, football club based in Oxford, England. The club compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football league system, English football. Founded as Headingto ...

, on 10 January 2016. He made his

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

debut on 2 March 2016 in Swansea's 2–1 victory away to

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 ...

Hull City

Kingsley moved to

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

club Hull City in August 2017 for an undisclosed fee. He was released by Hull at the end of the 2019–20 season.

Heart of Midlothian

Kingsley signed a one-year contract with Hearts on 6 October 2020. He played and scored for Hearts in the 2020 Scottish Cup Final, which finished 3–3 after extra time, but his effort in the subsequent

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

was saved by Conor Hazard as Hearts lost 4–3 on penalties. On 21 January 2021, Kingsley signed an 18-month contract extension with Hearts, keeping him at the club until the end of the 2021–22 season. He further extended his Hearts stay in January 2022, signing a three-and-a-half-year contract and keeping him at the club until the summer of 2025. He then further extended his contract on 6 August 2024 with a new three-year contract until the summer of 2027. Kingsley quickly became known as an efficient taker of the

direct free kick A free kick is a method of restarting play in association football. It is awarded after an infringement of the Laws of the Game (association football), laws by the opposing team. Direct and indirect free kicks Free kicks may be either dire ...

, scoring several long-range strikes for Hearts since joining. He scored what proved to be the match-winning goal in the semi-final of the 2021–22 Scottish Cup – an

Edinburgh derby The Edinburgh derby is an informal title given to any association football, football match played between Football in Scotland, Scottish clubs Heart of Midlothian F.C., Heart of Midlothian (Hearts) and Hibernian F.C., Hibernian (Hibs), the two o ...

against Hibernian – from a 30-yard free kick, albeit assisted with a wall pass from Liam Boyce.

International career

In April 2012 Kingsley was called up to the Scotland under-18 squad for two games against Serbia in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

on the 17th and 19th of the month. He played 90 minutes in the first game, which ended 1–1, and 60 minutes in the second game, where Scotland won 4–1. In season 2012–13 he appeared for Scotland under-19s against

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. He was selected for the squad for the 2014 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship qualification matches in October, playing in the third game against

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. This was followed in March with an appearance in the friendly match against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. In May he played in two of the Elite qualifying round games in Belgium against

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. In March 2015, Kingsley made his Scotland under-21 debut in a 2–1 win against

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, 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 and ...

. This was followed up with four appearances for the side against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

twice, Northern Ireland and

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

in their Euro Championship Qualifying group. On 20 May 2016, Kingsley received his first call-up to the

Scotland national football team The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in men's international Association football, football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. They compete in three major professional tournaments: the FIFA World Cup, UEFA ...

for their friendlies against

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and

. He made his Scotland debut as a substitute in a 3–0 defeat against France, on 4 June 2016. Kingsley was recalled to the national team squad in September 2022 as a replacement for the injured Kieran Tierney and Scott McKenna. He appeared as a substitute in a goalless draw with

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

that secured a promotion for Scotland in the

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is an international European football competition played by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The competition was devised to minimise friendlies a ...

Career statistics

International

Honours

;Falkirk *

Scottish Challenge Cup The Scottish Professional Football League Challenge Cup,2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

;Heart of Midlothian *

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association footb ...

: 2020-21

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kingsley, Stephen 1994 births Living people Scotland men's international footballers Swansea City A.F.C. players Falkirk F.C. players Yeovil Town F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players Heart of Midlothian F.C. players Scottish Football League players Scotland men's youth international footballers Men's association football defenders Scottish Professional Football League players English Football League players Scotland men's under-21 international footballers Premier League players Scottish men's footballers Footballers from Stirling 21st-century Scottish sportsmen