Dave Kitson- Player and a Gentleman

In a recent lengthy interview, Dave Kitson commented that he didn’t care about the FA Cup, this season.

How dare he?

After all, it’s not as if anyone has ever fielded a weakened side in the cup, or heaven forbid if a team decided it wasn’t important enough to play in as they had other commitments. Or maybe it’s different for bigger clubs?

Dave Kitson is a humble, intelligent professional, who says what other people think.

This is the man who turned down the chance to play International football for Ireland, because he is a genuine football fan.

He said at the time: ‘I only qualify for Ireland through my Grandfather who I never met.

‘I’ve never felt Irish, and I spent the Summer watching England in the pub wearing a shirt with Gerrard on the back. I know that I’m not good enough for England but that’s not the point.’

Anyone that has ever met Dave Kitson will know what a genuine guy he is and that his comments on the FA Cup were taken well out of context.

The following was posted by a close friend of Dave Kitson on West Ham supporters site KUMB:

‘I am very, very good friends with Dave. He’s currently on holiday with his pregnant fiancee and Ivar Ingarmarsson and his family. He text me earlier having a chat and said he’s just reading the bol*ocks the papers have written about him.

‘Yes he’s happy to admit that he said he doesn’t care about the FA Cup, THIS SEASON, because he feels the important thing for the club he plays for is to ensure they manage survival in the top flight. If someone would of asked us (West Ham) last season a run to the 1/4 finals of the FA Cup or survival what would we of taken?

His words to me this morning were all newspaper journalists are lazy bast*rds, why write up a full story that won’t get a lot of media attention when they can mis-quote comments and make it seem like they have a proper wan*ker story to write about.

Dave is the most genuine person, not only footballer, I know. If he thinks you’re wrong he’ll tell you. If he agrees, he’ll tell you.

Remember him making the headlines after the world cup, an un-heard of player telling Terry, Gerrard, Rooney, Lumpard etc they should be ashamed of their performance in the world cup etc etc.

Kit’s will tell you how it is and how he feels. To say he’s been mis-quoted is an understatement, for a player that played non-league and in the 1st prelimanary round of the FA Cup, believe me he cares about every single game he plays, whether it used to be for the Arena Taverna in Letchworth on a Sunday, Arlesey Town in the Ryman League on a Saturday or when he moved to Cambridge and onto Reading.

As for some of the comments about him, I’d like to be standing alongside Dave and see some of you call him it to his face.
And for the positive comments, he’d shake your hand and more than likely offer you a beer and sit entirely interested and have a football chat.

After the WH v Reading we had a chat and he said he did an interview that turned a few noses. The point of his interview was how football has always been for real fans and not money men but that’s changing and eventually money will force the working class man out of the stadiums and it’ll be a black day for football.

For fu*ks sake he’s about the only honest speaking top flight football player there is. If only some of you mugs had the luck to meet and know him.’

Dave Kitson is an honest professional, who will always give his all and I for one would love to see him still at Reading if and when they find themselves in a strong enough position to mount a serious challenge for the FA Cup.