Kirk Broadfoot

Kirk John Broadfoot (born 8 August 1984) is a Scottish footballer who plays as a defender for Scottish Championship club Greenock Morton.

Broadfoot initially signed for Scottish Premier League side Hibernian as a sixteen-year-old apprentice, but he was released and signed for St Mirren on 1 July 2002.

Broadfoot started his senior career with St Mirren and he helped the club gain promotion to the Scottish Premier League by winning the 2005–06 Scottish First Division.

He went on to make 174 appearances for the club and was team captain for the 2006–07 season, replacing teammate Kevin McGowne.

Broadfoot was part of the St Mirren side which gained promotion to the Scottish Premier League for the 2006–07 season, and the team that won the 2005 Scottish Challenge Cup Final in November 2005.

He moved to Rangers as a free agent in 2007 and enjoyed success with the Ibrox club until he left Rangers by mutual consent in August 2012.

In March 2007, Broadfoot signed a pre-contract agreement to join Rangers in the summer.

Broadfoot officially joined Rangers on 1 July that year.

He made his debut against FK Zeta in a UEFA Champions League qualifier, on 31 July 2007 and scored his first Rangers goal in a 7–2 victory against Falkirk in the Scottish Premier League.

In the early part of the season, Broadfoot's first team opportunities were limited after suffering a hamstring injury which caused him to miss three games.

After Alan Hutton left for Tottenham Hotspur in the January transfer window, Broadfoot replaced him at right-back and was praised by manager Walter Smith.

Following that, he was a regular in the side during the 2007–08 season.

He made his debut for the Scotland national team on 10 September 2008 against Iceland, a game in which he scored.

He was capped four times in total at full level.

Broadfoot was brought up in the Ayrshire village of Drongan.

He played at boys club level for Coyle Thistle, Ayr Valspar, Auchinleck Talbot and Queen of the South.

After making an appearance in the Scottish Cup against Hibernian early in 2008, he made only his second League start against Falkirk during a 2–0 win on 9 February and Rangers gave him the Man of the Match award.

Broadfoot played in the 2008 Scottish League Cup Final helping Rangers to a 3–2 penalty shootout win at Hampden Park against Dundee United.

He also played a significant role in Rangers' run to the 2008 UEFA Cup Final, but had to settle for a runners-up medal as the side lost 2–0 to Russian outfit Zenit Saint Petersburg.

Broadfoot was dropped, however, for the 2008 Scottish Cup Final against Queen of the South.

He played regularly for Rangers in the 2008–09 season and made his international debut early that season.

Broadfoot provided an assist for Kenny Miller in a 4–2 Old Firm victory against Celtic in August 2008.

He was sent off in the 2009 Scottish League Cup Final for a professional foul on Aiden McGeady, who converted the resulting penalty kick to give Celtic a 2–0 victory.

During that match, Broadfoot was playing with a foot injury which ended his season after starting 28 league matches during the campaign.

The extent of the foot injury meant Broadfoot was not fully fit to play until November 2009 in a closed doors match.

During his injury rest, Broadfoot needed hospital treatment for scalds after an egg he was poaching in the microwave sprayed hot liquid into his face.

Broadfoot made his return to the Rangers' first team on 12 December 2009, nearly nine months after his last game, in a 3–0 victory against St Johnstone.

After the match, Broadfoot said his foot injury resulted in the 'toughest period in his life'.

On 21 June 2010, Broadfoot signed a new three-year contract with Rangers; his original deal was due to expire at the end of that month.

During Rangers' match with Manchester United on 14 September, Broadfoot made an innocuous challenge on Antonio Valencia that resulted in his opponent suffering a broken ankle.

Broadfoot was visibly distressed by the injury suffered by Valencia.

In Rangers' next Champions League match, Broadfoot provided an assist for Steven Naismith in a 1–0 win over Turkish side Bursaspor at Ibrox to gain them their first win in 12 Champions League matches.

Soon afterwards, Broadfoot's injury Jinx struck again, resulting in him being ruled out until January.

However, he then suffered a hairline fracture of his heel and his return was further delayed, missing the rest of the season.

Ahead of the new season, Broadfoot made his first appearance from injury in a 1–0 loss against German side Sportfreunde Lotte Broadfoot noted his future at Rangers could be in doubt if his first team opportunities were limited.

After a 2–0 win over Kilmarnock, he was involved in an altercation with opponent Manuel Pascali after the full-time whistle, with manager Ally McCoist describing the pair's actions as 'handbags' Broadfoot criticised Kilmarnock manager, Kenny Shiels – after he described Broadfoot as "the ugly boy from Rangers" and "the male model from Ayrshire" in a radio interview – as immature and also claimed that Pascali made a threat towards him saying "in my face, saying he was going to kill me".

Broadfoot then joined English club Blackpool, but was released by them in May 2014, moving on to Rotherham.

In 2017 he returned to Scotland and joined Kilmarnock, spending two full seasons with the club.

Broadfoot returned to St Mirren in September 2019, but in January 2020 he moved back to Kilmarnock.

After a year with Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Broadfoot signed for Open Goal Broomhill in July 2022 for the season, before signing for Greenock Morton in June 2023.