Chris Killen

Early career

Born in Wellington, Killen grew up in the Wellington suburb of Island Bay. As a youth he attended Rongotai College. 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. The 17-year-old Killen joined City's youth academy. 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 league 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…

Killen has represented New Zealand at under-20 and under-23 levels, and was included in the New Zealand under-23 squad for their first appearance at the Olympic Games as one of three over age players, alongside Ryan Nelsen and Simon Elliott. Killen made his international debut for the New Zealand senior team during the 2000 OFC Nations Cup against Tahiti, three months before his first senior appearance at club level. The "All Whites" finished the tournament as runners-up after losing 2–0 to Australia in the final. He was also in the squad for the 2002 OFC Nations Cup, which New Zealand won after beating Australia 1–0 at the Mount Smart Stadium. He was further named in the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup and featured in the defeats to Japan and Colombia at the group stage. Killen featured in New Zealand's success at the 2008 OFC Nations Cup, though he played just one game – the 2–0 win over Fiji at Churchill Park. He was named as part of the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup New Zealand squad to travel to South Africa. Killen scored twice in their final warm up game, a 4–3 defeat by World champions Italy. In the tournament itself, he played in the defeats to Spain and South Africa, and the draw with Iraq. Killen also featured in the team that beat Bahrain in a two-legged Asia/Oceania play-off to qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup and was named in the New Zealand squad for the finals in South Africa, where New Zealand went unbeaten with three draws against Slovakia, Italy, and…

Club statistics

International statistics

Scores and results list New Zealand's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Killen goal.

Following his retirement from football in December 2013, Killen launched and became director of Pro Sports Financial Ltd, a financial concierge designed for male and female athletes regarding insurance policies. In September 2016, Killen admitted to sexually assaulting a young woman in England. After first denying the charge, Killen changed his plea to guilty before he was due to go on trial. Killen received a 12-month jail term but it was suspended for 18 months, he was also ordered to undergo 20 hours of rehabilitation and to perform 200 hours of community service.