Kevin Austin (footballer)

Kevin Austin
Personal information
Full name	Kevin Levi Austin
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Position(s)	Defender
Team information
Current team	Darlington
Number	19
Senior career*
Years	Team
1992–1993	Saffron Walden Town
1993–1996	Leyton Orient
1996–1999	Lincoln City
1999–2001	Barnsley
2000–2000	→ Brentford (loan)
2001–2002	Cambridge United
2001–2002	Kettering Town
2002–2004	Bristol Rovers
2004–2008	Swansea City
2008–2010	Chesterfield
	Darlington
International career‡
2000	Trinidad & Tobago
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 01:44, 4 September 2010 (UTC); ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 18 September 2008 (UTC)

Kevin Levi Austin (born 12 February 1973 in Hackney, London, England) is an English professional footballer, has just left Chesterfield in League Two and is currently at Darlington F.C. He was eligible to play for either England or Trinidad and Tobago at international level and chose to play for the latter against Panama in 2000.

Austin is a centre-half who has also been used as a full-back. Standing at 6'1" (185 cm), he is an imposing figure who has been dubbed "The Doorman". In recent seasons, his size and advancing years have perhaps compromised his pace.

Austin began his career at Saffron Walden Town, before moving in August 1993 on a free transfer to Leyton Orient, for whom he made over 100 first-team appearances. He moved to Lincoln City in July 1996 for a fee of £30,000, again making more than 100 appearances. A firm favourite during his time at Sincil Bank, Kevin was recently voted number 56 in Lincoln's 100 league legends.

Austin moved to Barnsley in July 1999 on a Bosmen free transfer but, in only his sixth match for Barnsley and ironically against Lincoln, he suffered a serious Achilles tendoninjury that kept him out of action for the remainder of the season. Returning to fitness, Austin was loaned to Brentford and also linked up with Trinidad and Tobago, making his one and only appearance for the Warriors in a 1-0 World Cup qualifying win over Panama in Port of Spain in November 2000. However, he was then sidelined by a recurrence of his achilles tendon injury picked up on international duty in the Cayman Islands. A proposed move to Oxford United fell through when he failed a medical and he was released by Barnsley in the summer of 2001.

He linked up with his old manager John Beck at Cambridge United but continued to be bedevilled by injury and he agreed to cancel his contract with them in March 2002. He spent the remainder of the season with Kettering Town, making his debut against Folkstone on 30 March 2002 and going on to make three appearances.

In the summer of 2002, Bristol Rovers appointed John Still as their assistant manager and Still, who had worked with Austin at Lincoln, invited him for pre-season training. Austin impressed sufficiently to earn a contract and he returned to both full fitness and regular first-team football, making a total of 61 appearances. In June 2004, he moved across the Severn Bridge to Swansea City. Austin still resides in Bristol and in the 2006/07 season he travelled to Swansea with Adebayo Akinfenwa. He leaves more time over his journey now having missed making his home début game for Swansea against Cheltenham on August 21, 2004 when he was caught in a traffic jam on the M4.

In all competitions, to the end of the 2007/08 season, Austin made 139 appearances for Swansea City (with a further eleven as substitute).

Austin moved to League Two outfit Chesterfield in June 2008 on a two year deal.

References

External links

Kevin Austin at Soccerbase
Unofficial Kevin Austin Profile at The Forgotten Imp