Kyle Lightbourne
Personal information
Full name Kyle Lavince Lightbourne[1]
Date of birth (1968-09-29) 29 September 1968 (age 55)[2]
Place of birth Hamilton, Bermuda[2]
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[2]
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
Pembroke Hamilton
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1986–1992 PHC Zebras
1992–1993 Scarborough 19 (3)
1993–1997 Walsall 165 (65)
1997–1998 Coventry City 7 (0)
1998 → Fulham (loan) 4 (2)
1998–2001 Stoke City 111 (21)
2001 → Swindon Town (loan) 2 (0)
2001 → Cardiff City (loan) 3 (0)
2001 IFK Norrköping 0 (0)
2001–2003 Macclesfield Town 73 (15)
2002 → Hull City (loan) 4 (0)
2003–2007 PHC Zebras
2007–2009 Bermuda Hogges 12 (0)
2008 → PHC Zebras (loan) 1 (1)
Total 401 (107)
International career
1989–2004 Bermuda 40 (16)
Managerial career
2007–2009 Bermuda Hogges
2007–2011 PHC Zebras
2012–2013 Robin Hood
2018–2023 Bermuda
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Kyle Lavince Lightbourne (born 29 September 1968) is a Bermudian professional footballer who played as a forward for Scarborough, Walsall, Coventry City, Fulham, Stoke City, Swindon Town, Cardiff City, Macclesfield Town and Hull City.[2] At international level, he made 40 appearances for the Bermuda national team scoring 16 goals.

Club career

Lightbourne was born in Hamilton, Bermuda and played for PHC Zebras before moving to England to play for Scarborough at the age of 23. He played 21 times for Scarborough before joining Walsall in September 1993. Lightbourne soon struck up a partnership with Kevin Wilson and the pair became prolific goalscorers and earned Walsall some success. He scored 9 goals in 41 appearances in 1993–94 before scoring 27 goals in 1994–95 as Walsall gained promotion. He scored 24 goals in 1995–96 and 25 in 1996–97.[3]

This earned him a lucrative move to Premier League side Coventry City for a fee of £500,000. However his chances at Highfield Road were limited and after making only 7 appearances plus a loan spell at Fulham he moved to Stoke City in February 1998.[2] He didn't get off to the best of starts with Stoke as he struggled with illness and form as Stoke suffered relegation from the First Division in 1997–98. He improved in 1998–99, netting eight goals.[2] In 1999–2000 Lightbourne scored 10 goals in 52 appearances as Stoke reached the play-offs where they lost to Gillingham. He played in the 2000 Football League Trophy Final at Wembley as Stoke beat Bristol City 2–1.[2] In 2000–01 he found his chances of first team football more restricted but still managed five goals in 28 appearances. In the latter part of the season he spent spells on loan at Swindon Town and Cardiff City.[2]

He was released by Stoke in the summer of 2001 and after a brief unsuccessful spell in Sweden with IFK Norrköping he played two seasons with Macclesfield Town and had a short loan spell at Hull City before returning to Bermuda.

In 2007, Lightbourne joined Shaun Goater as part of the management team of USL side Bermuda Hogges, making 12 appearances for the team. He officially retired from football in 2009.

International career

Lightbourne made his debut for Bermuda in 1989 and represented his country in 11 FIFA World Cup qualification matches.[4]

His final international match was a June 2004 World Cup qualification match against El Salvador.

Managerial career

Lightbourne was coach at PHC Zebras before resigning in summer 2011.[5] In June 2012, Lightbourne was named manager of local side Robin Hood.[6] He missed out on a place at the Walsall bench in 2013.[7] Lightbourne became manager of the Bermuda national team on 8 September 2017 replacing Andrew Bascome.[8]

Cricket career

Lightbourne was a member of the ICC Associates squad at the inaugural 1988 Youth Cricket World Cup. He played five games for Bermuda at the 1990 ICC Trophy, during which he took 11 wickets at an average of 16.81. He was part of a Bermuda side that played the touring Australians in 1991.[9]

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[10]
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other[a] Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Scarborough 1992–93 Third Division 19 3 0 0 1 0 1 0 21 3
Walsall 1993–94 Third Division 35 7 4 2 0 0 2 0 41 9
1994–95 Third Division 42 23 5 3 4 1 1 0 52 27
1995–96 Second Division 43 15 5 3 2 0 3 6 53 24
1996–97 Second Division 45 20 4 4 2 1 1 0 52 25
Total 165 65 18 12 8 2 7 6 198 85
Coventry City 1997–98 Premier League 7 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 10 0
Fulham (loan) 1997–98 Second Division 4 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 5 3
Stoke City 1997–98 First Division 13 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 2
1998–99 Second Division 36 7 1 1 1 0 1 0 39 8
1999–2000 Second Division 40 7 1 0 3 0 8 3 52 10
2000–01 Second Division 22 5 1 0 3 0 0 0 26 5
Total 111 21 3 1 7 0 9 3 130 25
Swindon Town (loan) 2000–01 Second Division 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Cardiff City (loan) 2000–01 Third Division 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
Macclesfield Town 2001–02 Third Division 29 4 0 0 1 0 0 0 30 4
2002–03 Third Division 44 10 3 2 2 1 1 0 50 13
Total 73 14 3 2 3 1 1 0 80 17
Hull City (loan) 2002–03 Third Division 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0
Bermuda Hogges 2007 USL Second Division 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0
2008 USL Second Division 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
2009 USL Second Division 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0
Total 12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 12 0
Career total 400 105 24 15 22 3 19 10 465 135
  1. ^ Includes Football League play-offs, and Football League Trophy.

Managerial statistics

As of 21 November 2023
Team From To Record
G W D L Win %
Bermuda 18 January 2017 Present 30 9 4 17 030.00

Honours

Walsall

Stoke City

Individual

References

  1. ^ "Kyle Lightbourne". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Lowe, Simon (2000). Stoke City: The Modern Era – A Complete Record. Desert Island Books. ISBN 1-874287-39-2.
  3. ^ "Kyle Lightbourne interview". Bescot Banter. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
  4. ^ Kyle Lightbourne – FIFA competition record (archived)
  5. ^ Colin Thompson (18 August 2011). "Anderson new man in charge at Zebras". The Royal Gazette. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
  6. ^ Stephen Wright (30 June 2012). "Hood turn to Lightbourne as new coach". Royal Gazette. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
  7. ^ Stephen Wright (15 May 2013). "Lightbourne overlooked for Walsall number two job". Royal Gazette. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
  8. ^ "Former Stoke City striker named caretaker international manager". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  9. ^ "Kyle Lightbourne". CricketArchive. Archived from the original on 20 December 2015. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
  10. ^ Kyle Lightbourne at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
  11. ^ Lynch. The Official P.F.A. Footballers Heroes. p. 150.

External links

Bermuda squad โ€“ 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup
1994โ€“95 Football League Third Division PFA Team of the Year
Bermuda national football team โ€“ managers
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