Patrick Kisnorbo

Patrick Fabio Maxime Kisnorbo (born 24 March 1981) is an Australian professional football manager and former player.

He is also known by his nicknames Paddy and PK.

As a player, Kisnorbo was a primarily a centre-back, but also played as a defensive midfielder.

He made eighteen appearances for the Australia national team.

Kisnorbo was a fans' favourite at Leicester City, accumulating over 100 appearances in his four years at the club.

During his time with Leicester, he was at the centre of a number of refereeing controversies in which officiating calls were later shown to be wrong.

He has also suffered some injuries that affected his playing ability for a time.

In his first season, Kisnorbo's performances led to South Melbourne winning the 2000-01 Premiership, 8 points ahead of second place.

Kisnorbo has represented Australia at international level in three tournaments; the 2002 and 2004 Nation Cups and the 2007 Asian Cup.

He started his professional career at South Melbourne and later played for the Scottish club Hearts before joining Leicester and then transferring to Leeds United.

In his secondary season, Kisnorbo performances led him to be awarded the Theo Marmaras medal for the best player at South Melbiurne during the 2002 season.

Kisnorbo went on to make 67 appearances for the club and scored on 3 occasions.

His big stature and toughness made him a fan-favourite to the Hellas fans and attracted international interest following his performances for the club.

After much speculation, Kisnorbo made his move from South Melbourne to the Edinburgh-based Scottish Premier League club Hearts in July 2003, signing a two-year contract.

He was recommended to Hearts by former player Dave McPherson.

Kisnorbo quickly became a regular for the first team where he made 48 appearances in two seasons, scoring his only league goal in a 2–1 win over Hibernian on 24 October 2004.

Kisnorbo also played in the UEFA Cup against such clubs as Bordeaux, Feyenoord, Schalke 04 and Ferencváros, and scored a goal against Portuguese club SC (Sporting Club) Braga.

He spent 18 months at Hearts, playing a total of 64 competitive games, before his contract expired at the end of the 2004–05 season.

It was not renewed by the club.

Kisnorbo joined Leicester City in April 2005 after leaving Hearts, signing a pre-contract agreement in January.

He followed former Hearts boss Craig Levein, teammates Mark de Vries and Alan Maybury across the border to the Midlands club.

Kisnorbo's first goal for Leicester came on 15 October 2005 against Watford at Vicarage Road, which turned out to be the match winner.

His initial appearances for Leicester were as a midfielder, and at first he failed to adjust and was booed by his own fans during a 2–1 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday.

However, a move back to defence resulted in a change in fortunes for Kisnorbo, and his partnership with then-teammate Paddy McCarthy was instrumental in helping Leicester avoid relegation to League One that season.

Transfer speculation linked Kisnorbo to Wigan Athletic at the end of the 2005–06 season, but he decided to extend his stay with Leicester by signing a new three-year contract, less than 12 months after joining the club.

Kisnorbo began the 2006–07 season well, scoring two goals and putting in fine rear-guard displays against Coventry City and Southend United, helping the club survive relegation yet again.

He was linked with a move to Fulham during the January transfer window.

His performance in the 2006–07 season earned him the players' player of the season award from his teammates.

It was also at this point that he became a fan favourite.

In the 2007–08 season, Kisnorbo was relegated to League One with the club, but was also on the receiving end of no less than three controversial refereeing decisions.

His first was a goal against Scunthorpe United on 20 October, which referee Scott Mathieson ruled out for an offside, depriving Leicester of an away win.

Kisnorbo won the 2009–10 fans Player of The Season award and also the Players Player Award for Leeds United in his debut season.

During his first two years at Leeds, Kisnorbo wore a headband bandage when playing football as 'a superstition' after initially wearing it following a head injury suffered on his Leeds debut.

Kisnorbo was born in Melbourne to a Mauritian father and an Italian mother who was from Trieste.

Because of his mother's birth, Kisnorbo holds an Italian passport, which allows him to bypass European Union work permit restrictions.

He is fluent in Italian.

Kisnorbo began playing football as a youth in his hometown with Essendon City and Bulleen.

As a 15-Year old, he moved to South Melbourne's youth team, where he stayed for two seasons in the National Soccer League Youth.

After a string of stand-out performances for the youth team, Kisnorbo was selected for the senior team, which was competing in the now defunct National Soccer League.

Kisnorbo performed like a seasoned veteran and cemented his spot at centre back as a youngster ahead of more experienced players at the club.