Paul Kitson quickly formed arguable the finest strike force since Tony Cottee and Frank McAvennie when he joined forces with fellow new signing in 1997 John Hartson.
Kitson joined the Hammers from Newcastle United in 1997 for a fee off £2.3 million, following the departure of Toon manager Kevin Keegan. Then assistant manager claimed Paul Kitson had all the attributes of Bryan ‘pop’ Robson, he said; “The last man we signed from Newcastle was Bryan ‘Pop’ Robson in the 1970s and Paul has the same qualities. He is quick, sharp and has good physical attributes.”
Kitson’s career got off to the dream start when he scored on against rivals Tottenham Hotspur in a 4-3 win where he bagged the second goal of the game. He followed that up with 2 against Chelsea and 2 against Everton before bagging 3 against Sheffield Wednesday in a 5-1 win for the Hammers.
West Ham survived despite a tricky season in which they finished 14th, largely thanks to Kitson bagging 8 goals in 14 appearances.
However, the following seasons didn’t fare so well for the Murton born striker as he found game time limited in the 1997/1998 season he only managed 13 appearances where he bagged 4 goals, the following season he contributed 3 goals in 17 appearances.
After a struggle and a goalless spell he came back and surprised the Hammers fans on a Sky live game against Charlton Athletic where he bagged a hat trick in a stunning 4-4 draw at the Valley. Those were the only goals in managed in the 2001/2002 season and were to be his last in claret and blue.
In his final season at West Ham he was loaned out to two clubs, Charlton and Crystal Palace, where his baron spell continued only bagging the one goal for Charlton ironically against the club he would later join Crystal Palace.
Later on in his career he would slide down the league ladder joining Brighton and Hove Albion, before joining Rushden and Diamonds where he found the net again scoring 5 goals in 28 appearances. He then joined Aldershot, which was to be his final club before retiring after just one game for the Hampshire based club.
It is believed he now resides in Teesside, and would like to find a job in the football world again, but it is not known where he works now.
Come on you Irons!
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He’s co-owner at K2H Group in Newcastle/Teesside with his wife and her brother – k2hgroup.co.uk (check.out the contact us page)
So there you go, now you know!
K2H??