Kris Boyd

Kris Boyd (born 18 August 1983) is a Scottish former professional footballer who is currently working as a sports pundit.

As a player he was a forward.

Boyd grew up in the South Ayrshire village of Tarbolton and started his senior career with Kilmarnock.

Boyd signed a senior contract with Kilmarnock at the age of sixteen on 25 August 1999, and made his debut for the club as a substitute on the last day of the 2000–01 season against Celtic.

He was given his chance to stake a place in the team the following season with the departures of Ally McCoist (who finished his career the day of Boyd's debut) and Christophe Cocard, scoring four goals in total.

Boyd started the 2002–03 season, in "impressive" form and won the SPL Young Player of the Month award for August.

In total he scored 12 times in the season and won Kilmarnock's Young Player of the Year award.

His form attracted the interest of Wolverhampton Wanderers, and he had a trial with the Molineux club in August 2003.

Boyd scored a total of fifteen goals in the 2003–04 season.

In September 2004, he equalled a Scottish Premier League record when he scored all five of Kilmarnock's goals against Dundee United.

He scored 19 goals in all competitions in the 2004–05 season, and was then linked with a move to Aberdeen.

Boyd's form during the 2005–06 attracted interest from Championship sides Cardiff City and Sheffield Wednesday had offers accepted by Kilmarnock, however, Boyd rejected the moves.

He transferred to Rangers in January 2006, and was their top goalscorer in each of his seasons at Ibrox.

He is the top goalscorer in the history of the Scottish Premier League, with 167 goals in total.

Boyd had a short spell in English football with Middlesbrough, during which time he was sent on loan to Nottingham Forest.

Having played several games for the Scotland U21 and Scotland B teams, Boyd received his first cap for the senior Scotland national team in 2006.

He scored seven goals in eighteen appearances for the senior national side over four years.

He is now a regular pundit on Sky Sports Soccer Saturday.

As a youth, Boyd played in 17 matches as a full back for Rangers.

He was let go, and became a striker when he joined the youth development program at Kilmarnock, ten miles from his home village, at the age of 12.

Following speculation that he would sign in the January transfer window, Boyd officially joined Rangers on 1 January 2006.

He made his debut on 7 January 2006 against Peterhead in the Scottish Cup third round, in which he scored a hat-trick during a 5–0 win.

He went on to score 20 goals in 17 starts for Rangers in the second half of that season, ending it with a total of 37 goals for Rangers and Kilmarnock.

He became the first player to finish top scorer at two clubs in one season, having scored 17 goals for Kilmarnock before his move.

After scoring a penalty against Motherwell in January 2007, Boyd was involved in controversy when he held up six fingers, reportedly in a show of solidarity for former club captain Barry Ferguson (who wore the number six shirt), who had been stripped of his position and dropped from the team following a dispute with Paul Le Guen.

Le Guen left the club days later and was replaced by the then Scotland manager Walter Smith.

By the end of that season, Boyd scored 25 goals for Rangers in all competitions.

Boyd scored his 100th Scottish Premier League goal, and his first against Celtic on 5 May 2007, in a 2–0 victory for Rangers.

The 2007–08 season saw Boyd score his 50th and 51st goals in all competitions for Rangers in a League Cup match against East Fife on 26 September 2007, 627 days after his debut.

This made him the second fastest Rangers player ever to reach 50 goals for the club, behind Jim Forrest.

Boyd won the first trophy of his career on 16 March 2008 when Rangers defeated Dundee United to win the 2008 League Cup.

He scored both of Rangers' goals in the 2–2 draw and scored the winning penalty in the subsequent penalty shootout.

He also scored a double in the 2008 Scottish Cup Final, a 3–2 win over Queen of the South.

He finished that season with 25 goals in all competitions for Rangers.

He was signed for a fee of around £500,000 on a contract lasting until the summer of 2009.

He waived half of his £40,000 signing on fee, which Kilmarnock were due to pay him under the terms of his contract, to help fund the youth setup at Kilmarnock.

In January 2009, speculation surfaced about a possible move to Birmingham City to play for former Rangers manager, Alex McLeish.

Rangers accepted a bid of nearly £4 million; however, Boyd could not agree personal terms and decided to stay at Rangers.

He signed for Turkish club Eskişehirspor in 2011, but terminated his contract after five months and moved to the Portland Timbers of Major League Soccer in January 2012.

He later returned to both Kilmarnock and Rangers.