Kieran Freeman

Kieran Ewan Freeman (born 20 March 2000)[3] is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Scottish Premiership club Dundee United.

Not to be confused with Kieron Freeman.

Kieran Freeman
Personal information
Full name Kieran Ewan Freeman[1]
Date of birth (2000-03-30) 30 March 2000
Place of birth Aberdeen, Scotland
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.79 m)[2]
Position(s) Defender
Team information
Current team
 Dundee United
Number 22
Youth career
Dundee United
2016–2020 Southampton
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2020– Dundee United 45 (2)
2020–2021 → Peterhead (loan) 11 (0)
2021 → Peterhead (loan) 11 (0)
International career
2014 Scotland U15 12 (0)
2014 Scotland U16 8 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 10 June 2022

Career

Club

A product of the Scottish Football Association's Performance School based at St John's Roman Catholic High School in Dundee, Freeman played for Dundee United at youth level before leaving in July 2016, aged 16, to sign his first professional contract with Premier League club Southampton.[4] He suffered three serious injuries in his first two years at Southampton,[5] but was offered a new short-term contract by the club at the end of the 2018–19 season.[6]

Following the expiry of his Southampton contract, Freeman returned to Dundee United on trial in January 2020[7] and was subsequently offered a contract until the end of the 2019–20 season.[8] In May 2020, he signed a two-year contract extension.[9] He made his senior debut on 15 August 2020, in Dundee United's 2–1 Scottish Premiership win away to Ross County.[10] Freeman joined Scottish League One club Peterhead on a season-long loan in September 2020,[11] but after making 14 appearances his loan was cut short in January 2021 when the lower divisions were suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[12] He returned on loan to Peterhead in March 2021, after the suspension was lifted.[13]

Freeman scored his first goal for Dundee United on 14 July 2021, in a 6–1 win over Elgin City in the Scottish League Cup.[14] Given a run of regular starting appearances due to Liam Smith being out injured, he scored his first league goal in a 3-0 win over Hibernian at Easter Road in October 2021,[15] and subsequently extended his contract by a further two years.[16]

International

Freeman represented Scotland at under-15 and under-16 international level in 2014.[17] In 2022 he was called up to the under-21 squad for European Championship Qualifiers against Belgium and Denmark,[18] playing in both games. [19]

Career statistics
As of 14 May 2022
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Dundee United 2020–21[20] Scottish Premiership 3000000030
2021–22[21] Scottish Premiership 231205100302
Total 262205100332
Dundee United U21 2021–22[21] —1[lower-alpha 1]010
Peterhead (loan) 2020–21[20] Scottish League One 110003000140
Peterhead (loan) 2020–21[20] Scottish League One 110100000120
Career total 481308110602
  1. Appearances in the Scottish Challenge Cup, in which age-restricted teams from the Scottish Premiership clubs compete against senior clubs

References
  1. "List of Players Registered as Scholars in Accordance with Rule C.3 Between 01/08/2016 and 31/08/2016". The Football Association. p. 19. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
  2. "Kieran Freeman". dundeeunitedfc.co.uk. Dundee United F.C. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  3. "Kieran Freeman". Dundee United F.C. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
  4. Lorimer, Scott (1 July 2016). "Dundee United due fee after kid Kieran Freeman joins Southampton". Evening Telegraph. Dundee. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
  5. "Southampton and Scotland prospect Kieran Freeman talks rehab, resilience and Robertson as he steps up comeback bid". Scottish Football Association. 18 September 2018. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
  6. Walker, Marc (9 June 2019). "Southampton: Saints release six players at end of 2018/19 season". Saints Marching. FanSided. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
  7. Nicolson, Eric (7 January 2020). "Dundee United welcome back Kieran Freeman for a trial". The Courier. Dundee. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
  8. "Dundee United sign Dillon Powers from Orlando City and Kieran Freeman from Southampton". BBC Sport. 10 January 2020. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
  9. Nicolson, Eric (28 May 2020). "Exclusive: Dundee United full-back Kieran Freeman agrees contract extension". The Courier. Dundee. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
  10. McDougall, Mark (15 August 2020). "Micky Mellon in 'we are Dundee United' rallying call to Tannadice troops". Daily Record. Glasgow. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
  11. Law, Callum (3 October 2020). "Kieran Freeman wants to take Peterhead chance after injury setbacks during Southampton spell". Evening Express. Aberdeen. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  12. Law, Callum (19 January 2021). "Kieran Freeman would be happy to return to Peterhead after loan stint". Evening Express. Aberdeen. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  13. "Dundee United agree Kieran Freeman can return to Peterhead on loan".
  14. "Kieran Freeman and Chris Mochrie score their first goals for Dundee United". BT Sport. 14 July 2021. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  15. Elder, Matthew (18 October 2021). "Why scoring against Hibs for Dundee United was the 'best moment of my life'". The Scotsman. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  16. "Kieran Freeman signs new contract with Dundee United". BT.com. 9 December 2021. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  17. "Kieran Freeman". Scottish Football Association. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
  18. "Kieran Freeman: Dundee United star lifts lid on Scotland under-21 joy after 'massive' season".
  19. "Kieran Freeman - Scotland - U21 EURO".
  20. "Games played by Kieran Freeman in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  21. "Games played by Kieran Freeman in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 June 2022.


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