Chris Kirkland lifts the lid on the bet that won his family £10,000 after the former England goalkeeper made his England debut in 2006
England goalkeeper Chris Kirland in action during the International Friendly match between England and Greece at Old Trafford on August 16, 2006 in Manchester, England.
England goalkeeper Chris Kirland in action during the International Friendly match between England and Greece at Old Trafford on August 16, 2006 in Manchester, England.
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Jarell Quansah became England's latest debutant on Sunday when the former Liverpool star made his maiden appearance in their 2-0 World Cup qualifying win over Albania. Starting at right-back, in doing so he became the 1,297th player to represent the Three Lions.
Every new England player is now awarded a legacy cap following their debut, while the FA are also in the process of awarding the same honour to all former Three Lions internationals.
So while the former Reds defender is the latest active recipient, one former Liverpool star received their own legacy cap last month ahead of England's World Cup qualifier against Serbia.
Chris Kirkland only ever made one appearance for his country, coming on at half-time in an international friendly against Greece back in August 2006. Becoming the 1,144th player to represent the Three Lions, he was never awarded a cap at that time, but that was put right at a special ceremony at Wembley Stadium - over 19 years after his solitary outing for his country.
Yet since first being called up by England in 2003, there had been much anticipation about his would-be international debut - not that Kirkland knew much about it at the time.
His family memorably won just short of £10,000 when the goalkeeper came on against Greece, having put a collective bet on Kirkland playing for England before the age of 30 when he was just 13 years old.
"That was a good bet," then-England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson joked at a pre-match press conference ahead of facing Croatia after handing Kirkland his first call-up in 2003. "Sooner or later he will win that money, I am sure."
Three years later Eriksson was proven right. But what makes such a bet even more extraordinary is the fact that it was placed, on odds of 100/1, shortly after Kirkland had made his first ever appearance as a goalkeeper.
And it was a bet he knew nothing about until years later following his first call-up when on the cusp of representing England for the first time.
"It did [make my family a lot of money!] I never knew about the bet," he chuckled when speaking exclusively to the Blood Red podcast ahead of the release of his new autobiography, 'Keeping It Quiet' - The Chris Kirkland Story'. "I was an outfield player and my dad put it on after my first game in goal.
"I never knew until the day before, got asked in a press conference, them saying about this bet. I said, 'Listen, I've no idea what you're talking about!'
"I rang my dad and he said, 'Yeah, we put it on when you were young. Don't worry about that though, it's not about that.' But yeah, they all were up there for that. And it paid off!
"I know that Rory McIlroy's dad did it to win the US Open. He won a hell of a lot more money, I think he! So there has been bets similar to it, but yeah, it's a nice one that the family managed to do that."
Former Liverpool goalkeeper Chris Kirkland received his England legacy cap before the Three Lions' World Cup qualifying win over Serbia in October 2025
Former Liverpool goalkeeper Chris Kirkland received his England legacy cap before the Three Lions' World Cup qualifying win over Serbia in October 2025
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While Kirkland’s family might have eventually been quids in, the 44-year-old insists they should have been offered even better odds.
"I think it was with William Hill. But it was terrible odds really," he said. "I mean, it was 100 to one and they could only put £100 in. I mean £100 back then was a lot of money. Still is in this day.
"But if I'd have gone in the bookies with him at 13 and a half, which is how old I was at the time, he'd have got about a million to one! Because I wasn't in the best shape when I was 13 or 14.
"They'd have looked at me and thought, 'there's no way that lad's playing for England!' So yeah, it was poor odds.
"But William Hill turned around and said it was great odds because the bet won and saved them a lot of money in the end. It was never a bad thing, it was just a nice story."
For the Kirkland family to place a bet on the then-teenager to play for England after his first ever game in goal, it begs the question just how good was that first appearance in net?
A modest Kirkland admits it went well, before pointing out that his Premier League debut followed only four years later.
"It was pretty good, yeah, it was pretty good!" he said. "And then I just picked it up pretty quickly.
"I was 13, 14, and then four years later, I was making my debut in the Premier League for Coventry against Tottenham Hotspur.
"So I'm glad it happened that way because it was like I could still do stuff for my friends, I could still play Sunday League. I still play on pitch for my school.
"I know all the lads, obviously these days are in academies from an early age, but I'm glad. It could have been completely different and never worked out.
"But it worked out for me that way. And it was quite a quick rise really."
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