A decade as a professional had seen keeper Kevin amass only 86 League and Cup appearances before his ex-Boro coach Bian Little added him to the Filbert Street roster for £40,000 a day after his 28th birthday.
He stepped straight between the sticks for City with Carl Muggleton carrying over a suspension, and has subsequently won the lion’s share of senior possession in competition with Muggleton, Russell Hoult and Gavin Ward.
His only Wembley outing in City’s trio of Play Off deciders was teh 3-4 defeat by Swindon. Not the tallest of last-liners (and occasianally exposed for his concomitant lack of reach), Kevin is nonetheless a fin refelx shot-stopper, and has peppered his City progress with some outstanding performances.
One of the top performances was at Tottenham in 1994/95, viertually ensured he would win the club’s Player of the Year award for the Premiership campaign (when contributed to multiple morning after quips as reports spread that he’d stopped the mento in question).
Kevin Poole left Leicester in 1997, joining Birmingham. He later played for Derby and Burton Albion. He continued playing, also going into coaching. He signed a new contract for the 2010–11 season, and made an appearance as a 47-year-old in a Football League Trophy match against Rotherham in October 2010. This would be the final appearance of his career; he signed a further one-year deal for 2011–12, and would turn 48 years old before the start of the new season.[23] Having made no appearances during 2011–12, Poole announced on 26 April that he would retire from his 32-year playing career, aged 48, at the end of the season, he had been the oldest professional player in England at the time of his retirement. However, because of injuries to Stuart Tomlinson and Ross Atkins, he re-registered as a player in October 2012 to provide cover for Dean Lyness and on-loan Mark Oxley, alongside his coaching role.
Poole again returned to the squad, aged 50, in October 2013 after an injury to Lyness; he took the number 13 shirt, and appeared on the substitutes’ bench for a match at Wycombe Wanderers on 5 October 2013.[26] He returned to the first team once again in late November as first-choice goalkeeper Jordan Pickford was recalled by Sunderland
FACTFILE:
- Full Name: Kevin Poole
- Position: Goalkeeper
- Date of Birth: 21.07.1963
- Birthplace: Bromsgrove
- Nation: England
- Caps / Goals: – / –
- Major League Career:
- 1981-87, Aston Villa (28/0)
- 1987-91, Middlesbrough (34/0)
- 1991-97, Leicester City (163/0)
- 1997-01, Birmingham City (56/0)
- 2001-05, Bolton Wanderers (5/0)
- 2005-06, Derby County (6/0)
- 2006-14, Burton Albion (123/0)
- Links
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