Michael Kightly

Michael John Kightly (born 24 January 1986) is an English professional footballer who plays as a winger for Rushall Olympic.

Michael Kightly
Kightly playing for Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2007.
Personal information
Full name Michael John Kightly[1]
Date of birth (1986-01-24) 24 January 1986[1]
Place of birth Basildon, England
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[1]
Position(s) Winger
Club information
Current team
 Rushall Olympic
Youth career
2000–2001 Tottenham Hotspur
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2001–2002 Basildon United
2002–2005 Southend United 13 (0)
2004–2005 → Farnborough Town (loan) 11 (0)
2005–2007 Grays Athletic 53 (24)
2006–2007 → Wolverhampton Wanderers (loan) 5 (2)
2007–2012 Wolverhampton Wanderers 109 (21)
2011–2012 → Watford (loan) 12 (3)
2012–2014 Stoke City 22 (3)
2013–2014 → Burnley (loan) 36 (5)
2014–2017 Burnley 40 (1)
2017 → Burton Albion (loan) 12 (4)
2017–2019 Southend United 60 (7)
2020– Rushall Olympic 6 (0)
Total 379 (70)
National team
2007–2008 England U21 7 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Kightly was rejected as a schoolboy by Tottenham Hotspur but worked his way back to League football with Southend United. He again slipped into the non-League though, before being spotted by Wolverhampton Wanderers while starring for Grays Athletic. He soon became a vital player for Wolves and was pivotal in their promotion to the Premier League in 2009. However injuries disrupted his time in the top flight before the club's relegation after three seasons. He joined Stoke City in August 2012 for an undisclosed fee. Kightly spent the 2012–13 season at Stoke before joining Burnley on loan in August 2013. After helping the Clarets gain promotion to the Premier League he made the move permanent in June 2014.

Club career

Southend United

Born in Basildon, Kightly played schoolboy football for Tottenham Hotspur but was released and subsequently picked up by his hometown team, non-League Basildon United. His stay was short and was soon back in professional football, signing a two-year scholarship with Southend United on 16 December 2002[2] following a five-game trial period.[3] He made his league debut for the club on 3 May 2003, in a 1–0 defeat at Exeter City.[4]

Although featuring in all their cup games of this time, scoring once in the Football League Trophy against Luton Town,[5] he made only 13 league appearances over three different seasons for them. On 22 October 2004, he joined Farnborough Town on loan,[6] spending three months with the club before returning to Southend United on 20 January 2005.[7] He was released at the end of the season by Southend manager Steve Tilson.[8]

Grays Athletic

Conference side Grays Athletic signed Kightly, where he scored 15 league goals in his first season, and won the FA Trophy. He began the 2006–07 season still with Grays, and had scored 10 goals by November. Such form caught the eye of scouts at Championship side Wolverhampton Wanderers, to whom he completed a two-month emergency loan move on 17 November 2006.[9]

He would subsequently return to play against Grays for Wolves in a pre-season friendly, which was a condition of the permanent deal later made between the clubs.[10]

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Kightly scored his first ever league goal to earn a 1–0 victory at Queens Park Rangers in December 2006. His form at Grays Athletic led him to be dubbed "The Ryan Giggs of non-league football", and it was reported that Sir Alex Ferguson was interested in signing Kightly for Manchester United.[11] After scoring two goals in five games, his loan move was made permanent when he signed a two-and-a-half-year contract for a nominal fee on New Year's Day 2007.[12]

He became a first-team regular in the remainder of the season, and his six goals helped the club into a play-off position. His performances saw him come runner-up for Wolves' Player of the Year 2006–07, losing out to goalkeeper Matt Murray. Kightly signed a new four-year deal with Wolves in June 2007,[13] after reported interest from Manchester United, Aston Villa, and Everton.[14]

His first full season with the club was severely hampered by a persistent ankle injury suffered in November 2007, from which he twice tried to return to first team football, eventually undergoing surgery in February 2008.[15] Kightly had further injuries that kept him out of the Wolves side, finally returning to play in the final four fixtures as the club narrowly missed the play-off places on goal difference. He signed an improved new four-year deal with the club in June 2008.[16]

During the 2008–09 season, he contributed eight goals, as Wolves led the promotion race. However, his campaign was prematurely halted by a broken metatarsal sustained during a reserve game in March 2009.[17] He returned to make his first appearances in the Premier League, following promotion, by September but again suffered another injury after needing an ankle operation.[18] Although planned to return early in the 2010–11 season, he suffered a further setback and was therefore omitted from the club's 25-man squad list for the first part of the campaign.[19] He eventually made his return to first team action after 16 months on the sidelines from various injuries, against Newcastle United in April 2011.

In October 2011, he joined Championship side Watford in an initial one-month loan deal to regain match fitness, making his debut on 15 October 2011 in a 2–0 loss against Crystal Palace.[20] This was later extended to run until January 2012, during which time Kightly made twelve appearances for the Hornets, scoring three times.[21]

Following his loan spell, Kightly returned to Wolves and managed his longest period of Premier League football. However, he could not prevent the team from suffering relegation at the end of a troubled campaign that saw the departure of manager Mick McCarthy. Despite Wolves struggling Kightly hit a rich vein of form towards the end of the season scoring three goals against Aston Villa, Bolton Wanderers and Stoke City.[22] In August 2012 it was revealed by Wolves that Kightly was in talks with Stoke City, having rejected a contract extension to instead remain in the top flight.[23] After signing for Stoke Kightly revealed that after missing 15 months of football at Wolves it left him fighting against depression.[24]

Stoke City

Kightly joined Premier League side Stoke City on 8 August 2012 for an undisclosed fee.[25][26] He made an instant impact with Stoke scoring with his first touch in a 1–1 draw with German side SpVgg Greuther Fürth in a pre-season friendly.[27] He then scored on his Premier League debut for Stoke in a 1–1 draw away at Reading.[28] He scored his second goal for Stoke on 20 October 2012 in a 4–2 defeat at Manchester United.[29] However, he fell out of favour with manager Tony Pulis and found himself in and out of the team.[30] He scored against Aston Villa on 6 April 2013.[31] Kightly ended the season with 26 appearances to his name of which 19 were starts, as Stoke finished in 13th position.[32] In May 2013 Pulis was replaced by Mark Hughes and Kightly expressed his desire to become a first team regular under the new manager and also admitted he struggled with confidence in the 2012–13 season.[33]

Burnley

On 2 September Kightly joined Burnley on loan for the 2013–14 season.[34] He scored his first goal for Burnley in a 1–0 win over Barnsley on 7 December 2013.[35] Kightly scored five goals in 38 games for Burnley as they gained promotion to the Premier League.[36] He made his move to Turf Moor permanent on 27 June 2014, signing a three-year contract.[37]

On 31 January 2017, Kightly joined Burton Albion on loan until the end of the 2016–17 season.[38] He scored on his debut for the club in a 2-1 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers on 4 February 2017.[39] He made a total of twelve appearances for the Brewers, scoring four goals as they secured their Championship status.[40] He was released by Burnley at the end of the 2016–17 season.[41]

Return to Southend
Kightly playing for Southend United in 2017.

In July 2017 Kightly rejoined Southend United on a three-year contract.[42] Kightly announced his retirement from football on 12 August 2019.[43]

Rushall Olympic

On 4 September 2020, Kightly came out of retirement and signed for Rushall Olympic.[44]

International career

Kightly was called into the England U21 squad in August 2007 for a friendly against Romania and went on to make his debut, playing the first half of the game.[45]

Personal life

Kightly has a daughter called Alexa and a son Leo. He grew up supporting Manchester United but switched allegiances to Tottenham Hotspur.[46]

Career statistics
As of 28 January 2021
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Southend United 2002–03[47] Third Division 1000000010
2003–04[48] Third Division 11030003[lower-alpha 1]1171
2004–05[49] League Two 1000000010
Total 130300031191
Farnborough Town (loan) 2004–05[50] Conference National 110——1[lower-alpha 2]0120
Grays Athletic 2005–06[51][52] Conference National 351431—10[lower-alpha 3]34818
2006–07[51][53] Conference National 181010—001910
Total 532441—1036728
Wolverhampton Wanderers (loan) 2006–07[53] Championship 52———52
Wolverhampton Wanderers 2006–07[53] Championship 196——2[lower-alpha 4]0216
2007–08[54] Championship 2142120—255
2008–09[55] Championship 3882010—418
2009–10[56] Premier League 900010—100
2010–11[57] Premier League 400000—40
2011–12[58] Premier League 1831020—213
Total 1142351602012724
Watford (loan) 2011–12[58] Championship 123———123
Stoke City 2012–13[59] Premier League 2233010—263
Burnley (loan) 2013–14[60] Championship 3650020—385
Burnley 2014–15[61] Premier League 1712010—201
2015–16[62] Championship 1802010—210
2016–17[40] Premier League 503010—90
Total 7667050—886
Burton Albion (loan) 2016–17[40] Championship 124———124
Southend United 2017–18[63] League One 296100000306
2018–19[64] League One 31131104[lower-alpha 1]0392
Total 607411040698
Rushall Olympic 2020–21[65] Southern League Premier Division Central 6 0 1 0 — 1[lower-alpha 2] 0 8 0
Career total 3797027313021444077
  1. Appearances in Football League Trophy
  2. Appearance(s) in FA Trophy
  3. 2 appearances and 1 goal in Conference National play-offs, 8 appearances and 2 goals in FA Trophy
  4. Appearances in Championship play-offs

Honours

Club

Grays Athletic

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Burnley Football Club

Individual

References
  1. Hugma, Barry J. (ed (2008). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2008–0. Mainstream. ISBN 978-1-84596-324-8.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  2. "Kightly signs Shrimpers scholarship". Southend United F.C. official website. 16 December 2002. Retrieved 15 October 2010.
  3. "Rising stars – Michael Kightly". Southend United F.C. official website. 26 February 2003. Retrieved 15 October 2010.
  4. "Exeter 1–0 Southend". BBC Sport. Retrieved 25 November 2012.
  5. "Southend 3–0 Luton". BBC. 9 December 2003. Retrieved 3 March 2010.
  6. "Kightly goes out on loan". Southend United F.C. official website. 22 October 2004. Retrieved 15 October 2010.
  7. "Loan Spell Does Kightly World of Good". Southend United F.C. official website. 22 October 2004. Retrieved 15 October 2010.
  8. "Kightly released by Southend boss". BBC Sport. 31 May 2005.
  9. "Kightly completes move to Wolves". BBC Sport. 17 December 2006.
  10. "Grays reception impresses Kightly". BBC Sport. 14 July 2007.
  11. "Saturday's football gossip". BBC Sport. 30 December 2006.
  12. "Wolves sign McIndoe and Kightly". BBC Sport. 1 January 2007.
  13. "Kightly signs new Wolves contract". BBC Sport. 18 June 2007.
  14. "Kightly pens four year deal at Wolves". The Echo (Essex). 19 June 2007. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  15. "Kightly suffers fresh ankle woe". BBC Sport. 28 January 2008.
  16. "Kightly pens new deal with Wolves". BBC Sport. 24 June 2008.
  17. "Kightly's season ended by injury". BBC Sport. 1 April 2009.
  18. "Wolves winger Michael Kightly faces eight-week lay-off". BBC Sport. 1 December 2009.
  19. "Premier League clubs name their 25-man squads". BBC Sport. 1 September 2010.
  20. "Watford sign Wolves winger Michael Kightly on loan". BBC Sport. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  21. "Wolves winger Michael Kightly seals longer Watford stay". BBC Sport. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  22. "Michael Kightly is relegation-threatened Wolves' one bright light". BBC sport. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  23. "Wolves Confirm Kightly Talks". Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. 8 August 2012.
  24. "Stoke winger Michael Kightly faced depression at Wolves". BBC Sport. Retrieved 10 August 2012.
  25. "Kightly Seals Move". Stoke City F.C. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  26. "Michael Kightly: Stoke City sign Wolves winger". BBC Sport. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  27. "Kightly strikes in Stoke draw". Sky Sports. Retrieved 10 August 2012.
  28. "Reading 1–1 Stoke". BBC Sport. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
  29. "Man U 4–2 Stoke". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 October 2012.
  30. "Stoke City: It's not nice when the fans turn against their team, says Michael Kightly". The Sentinel. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
  31. "Stoke 1–3 Aston Villa". BBC Sport. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
  32. "Michael Kightly is hoping to be a first-team regular for Stoke this term". Sky Sports. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  33. "Michael Kightly: I'll fight for my place on the Stoke City wing". The Sentinel. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  34. "Clarets Take The Michael". Burnley. Retrieved 2 September 2013.
  35. "Burnley 1 – 0 Barnsley". BBC. 7 December 2013. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
  36. "Games played by Michael Kightly in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  37. "Kight Flies In". Burnley F.C. Retrieved 27 June 2014.
  38. "Michael Kightly: Burnley midfielder joins Burton Albion on loan". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  39. "Burton 2-1 Wolves". BBC Sport. 4 February 2017. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  40. "Games played by Michael Kightly in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
  41. "Joey Barton: Banned midfielder released by Burnley". BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  42. "Michael Kightly: Southend United re-sign former Burnley winger". BBC Sport. 7 July 2017. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
  43. "Michael Kightly: Former Wolves winger retires aged 33". BBC Sport. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
  44. "BREAKING NEWS: PICS BLOWN AWAY BY KIGHTLY CAPTURE". Rushall Olympic. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
  45. "Agbonlahor in England U21 squad". BBC Sport. 16 August 2007.
  46. Stoke City Official Matchday Magazine 26 August 2012 v Arsenal
  47. "Games played by Michael Kightly in 2002/2003". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  48. "Games played by Michael Kightly in 2003/2004". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  49. "Games played by Michael Kightly in 2004/2005". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  50. "Games played by Michael Kightly in 2004/2005 for Farnborough". Grimsby Town Mad. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
  51. "Statistics: Grays Athletic". www.graysath-online.com. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  52. "Games played by Michael Kightly in 2005/2006". Grimsby Town Mad. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
  53. "Games played by Michael Kightly in 2006/2007". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  54. "Games played by Michael Kightly in 2007/2008". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  55. "Games played by Michael Kightly in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  56. "Games played by Michael Kightly in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  57. "Games played by Michael Kightly in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  58. "Games played by Michael Kightly in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  59. "Games played by Michael Kightly in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  60. "Games played by Michael Kightly in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
  61. "Games played by Michael Kightly in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
  62. "Games played by Michael Kightly in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
  63. "Games played by Michael Kightly in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
  64. "Games played by Michael Kightly in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
  65. Rushall Olympic League matches:
    "Leiston 0–1 Rushall Olympic". Retrieved 26 January 2021.
    "Rushall Olympic 1–1 Peterborough Sports". Retrieved 26 January 2021.
    "Rushall Olympic 4–3 Bromsgrove Sporting". Retrieved 26 January 2021.
    "Redditch United 3–3 Rushall Olympic". Retrieved 26 January 2021.
    "Rushall Olympic 0–2 Coalville Town". Retrieved 26 January 2021.
    "Lowestoft Town 1–1 Rushall Olympic". Retrieved 26 January 2021. & "Starting line-ups". Retrieved 26 January 2021.
    "Rushall Olympic 1–1 Kings Langley". Retrieved 26 January 2021.
    "Barwell 1–3 Rushall Olympic". Retrieved 26 January 2021.
    FA Cup matches:
    "Grantham Town 2–2 Rushall Olympic". Retrieved 26 January 2021.
    FA Trophy matches:
    "Rushall Olympic 4–1 Barwell". Retrieved 26 January 2021.
    "Basford United 5–0 Rushall Olympic". Retrieved 26 January 2021.
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