Chris Killen

Christopher John Killen (born 8 October 1981) is a former New Zealand international footballer.

Killen grew up in Wellington and played his club football for Miramar Rangers.

After a trial with Manchester City, he joined City's youth academy.

He represented the college in junior grades, and was selected to tour Australia with the New Zealand Secondary Schools representative team in 1998, along with future "All Whites" Leo Bertos and Tony Lochhead.

Killen played his club football for Miramar Rangers, whose coach arranged a trial with Manchester City.

The trial was successful, and the 17-year-old Killen joined City's youth academy.

His first senior club appearances came during a loan spell at Wrexham in September 2000, and the following season he was loaned to Port Vale.

Killen made his international debut for New Zealand during the 2000 OFC Nations Cup, and was included in the New Zealand U23 squad for their appearance at the 2008 Summer Olympics as one of three over age players.

His first senior club appearances came during a loan spell at Second Division side Wrexham in September 2000, then managed by Brian Flynn.

He scored his first league goal on 9 September against Oldham Athletic, and in total scored three goals in nine appearances for the Welsh club.

The following season, he was loaned to Brian Horton's Second Division Port Vale.

He scored on his debut on 25 September, in a 3–1 win over former club Wrexham at the Racecourse Ground.

He scored in a 3–1 defeat at Wycombe Wanderers four days later, before scoring a brace in a 5–0 win over Cambridge United on his home debut at Vale Park on 5 October.

He ended his loan tally with six goals in nine games for the "Valiants".

In November 2001, he was recalled from his loan by manager Kevin Keegan as a number of Manchester City strikers were injured, and played as a substitute in a 2–1 First Division win against Rotherham United.

He made two further substitute appearances that season, and finished as top goalscorer for the reserves.

Killen joined Oldham Athletic in July 2002 for £250,000, but failed to match his price tag because of persistent injury, and was eventually released on a free transfer.

He was also named as part of the New Zealand squad for the 2002 OFC Nations Cup, 2003 and 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, and the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Born in Wellington, Killen grew up in the Wellington suburb of Island Bay.

As a youth he attended Rongotai College.

He joined Oldham Athletic in July 2002, after manager Iain Dowie spent £250,000 to acquire the young striker.

He went on to score just four goals in 33 appearances in 2002–03.

During the 2003–04 campaign he featured 13 times, scoring two goals.

Killen was the club's top scorer in the 2004–05 season, with 15 goals in 30 starts.

Killen was "jinxed" by injury, however, and after a further twelve appearances in 2005–06, Oldham allowed him to move to Hibernian on a free transfer.

After Killen had left the club, recently appointed manager Ronnie Moore claimed that Killen had "underachieved" during his time with the club.

The club's managing director also issued a statement on the club website stating that Killen had cost £13,000 per game and £36,000 per goal due to his injury record and expensive contract.

He scored five goals for Hibs by the end of the 2005–06 season.

In January 2006, Killen joined Hibernian, and scored 11 goals in the early part of the 2006–07 season, but a ruptured Achilles tendon prematurely ended his season in January.

In January 2006, Killen joined Hibernian (Hibs) on a free transfer.

He made his debut against Hearts on 28 January, and then scored on his second appearance as he netted the third goal in Hibs' 3–0 defeat of Rangers at Ibrox in the Scottish Cup fourth round on 4 February.

Four days later he scored his first goal at Easter Road, the opener in a 7–0 win over Livingston.

Killen scored the opening goal the 5–0 win over Latvian club Dinaburg in the UEFA Intertoto Cup second-round game at Easter Road on 2 July 2006.

Following the departure of strikers Garry O'Connor and Derek Riordan, Killen was expected to be an important player for Hibs in the 2006–07 season.

By December 2006 he had scored 11 goals, including two in a 2–1 win over Rangers.

During a 2–2 Scottish Cup draw with Aberdeen in January, however, Killen suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon which ended his season.

Killen's contract with Hibernian expired in the summer of 2007, and, after using the Easter Road cub's facilities to regain fitness, he then signed for Celtic on a three-year contract, but found first team opportunities hard to come by, and was loaned to Norwich City during the 2008–09 season.

Killen rejoined his former Celtic manager Gordon Strachan at Middlesbrough in January 2010.

Seven months later he moved to China to play for Shenzhen Ruby.

He switched clubs to Chongqing in February 2012.