Kris Boyd (born August 18, 1983 in Irvine) is a Scottish professional footballer currently playing for Rangers in the Scottish Premier League.
Early career
Boyd started his career with Kilmarnock and made his debut for the club when came on the last day of the 2000-01 season against Celtic. The following season, after departures of Ally McCoist and Christophe Cocard gave Boyd a chance to stake a place in the team, he eventually hit five goals during the season.
During 2002-03 season he scored twelve times and won the Kilmarnock Young Player of the Year award. He was also a regular in the Scotland Under-21 team. The following season was even better for Boyd, when he netted fifteen goals.
Goals kept coming for Boyd in 2004-05, and he almost set a record for himself when scored all five of Kilmarnock’s goals against Dundee United in September 2004, which saw Kilmarnock win 5-2. He managed to equal the record of number of goals scored in a single match set by Kenny Miller who scored five against St Mirren for Rangers in 2001.
2005-06 saw Boyd in blistering form for Kilmarnock, which attracted interest from English Championship sides Cardiff City and Sheffield Wednesday, however despite £500,000 offers from both clubs, Boyd rejected the moves.
Rangers career
On December 22, 2005 it was announced that Boyd would sign for Rangers in the January transfer window. Boyd officially joined Rangers on January 1, 2006. In an unusual move 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 set up which benefited his early career.
He made his Rangers debut on January 7, 2006 against Peterhead in the Scottish Cup third round, in which he scored a hat-trick – sealing a 5-0 win. He went on to score 20 goals in 17 starts for Rangers in the second half of the season, out of a total 37 between Rangers and Kilmarnock. He was also the first player to finish top scorer at 2 clubs in 1 season, having scored 17 goals for Kilmarnock before his move.
Having been suspended for the first match of the 2006-07 season, he was left out of the starting XI by new manager Paul Le Guen for the next two games, where Rangers drew 2-2 with Dundee United and 1-1 with Dunfermline. He started the next game on 19 August 2006 against Hearts, scoring both goals in a 2-0 win. Boyd continued his scoring streak against former club Kilmarnock the following week, scoring two goals in a 2-2 draw. He also scored a 30 yard volley against Dunfermline in the CIS cup after Allan McGregor “punted” the ball some 85 yards.
Scotland career
On May 11, 2006 he made his debut for the Scotland national team and scored twice in a 5-1 win over Bulgaria in the Kirin Cup. Boyd extended his fine international form into European Championship qualifying, scoring two goals in Scotland’s opening match against the Faroe Islands.