After being released by Fulham and Gillingham as a youngster, a career in professional football seemed unlikely, but the Chelsea born defender never gave up.
Now he’s cemented his place in the Wolverhampton Wanderers back line, alongside Willy Boly and England international Conor Coady.
During his time at Fulham, Kilman joined futsal team London Genesis, where he impressed and managed to achieve 25 caps for England futsal, making his debut when he was just 18, balancing his football, futsal and academic studies.
Kilman was released from Fulham when he was 15, before joining Gillingham’s youth set up for a short time before being released yet again.
“It was very tough, I was at school and I was at university after, so I had a lot going on, but for me I felt to be able to compete and go into the professional game, I needed to do as much training as possible.”
He never gave up on his football career after getting released, saying “When you’re 15, 16, even up to 19 or 20, you’re still young and you have got such a long career ahead of you”
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Taking the step into non- league, Kilman endured a short spell at Welling United, only making one appearance in the London Senior Cup. From here, he moved to Maidenhead United where he made 30 appearances for the club. During his spell at the club, he was loaned out to Southern Football League side Marlow for the 2016-17 season, whilst still continuing his futsal career.
“With the mixture of both football and futsal, I felt if I had done both it would made it a full-time week, like as if I was a professional.”
“I felt like that was very important for me to keep up and maintain a high, high level and to be as good as possible.”
Kilman has fond memories of his time at Maidenhead, playing under ex West Ham legend, Alan Devonshire.
“He always saw me as a player that could play for his side,” says Kilman, speaking about Devonshire who believed in his ability when others didn’t.
“Of course, we keep in contact, every time I have a good game or something good happens, he always sends me a message which is really nice.”
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Kilman found a route back into the professional game, joining Wolves from Maidenhead in 2018.
He enjoyed a successful time playing for Wolves’ u23 side before making the jump up to the Premier League.
“It’s always a dream to play in the Premier League and for me to come to Wolves and to be able to stay and play for them as much as possible, it’s the dream”
“Yes, so of course I know how hard it is and everyone knows how hard the Premier League is but for me, the best way to look at it is that it’s just a game of football. Of course, the opposition you play against, some of them have world class players, are world class teams. But you know you can’t get affected by it, you know, you have to know you’re good enough to compete at that level, because you wouldn’t be there if you weren’t.”
Kilman’s clearly caught the eye of manager Nuno Espírito Santo being a key part of Wolves’ defence which doesn’t look like changing any time soon.
“He’s been massive for me, him and his staff. You know, I feel like when I first came there was so many things I had to improve, like physically my fitness and my understanding of the game because coming from non-league is a big difference to playing in the Premier League and I feel like he’s been fantastic. You know he’s very intense he’s very precise with what he wants in a player not just with me but with everyone. He’s been unbelievable, they faith he’s given me has been unbelievable.”
Kilman really cemented himself in Nuno’s back line during Wolves’ 1-0 win over Leeds, playing consecutive Premier League games for the first time in his career, winning Man of the Match in the process
“I felt like for me, from the first game this season against Fulham, in order to come in and play I needed to play my best regardless of how long I haven’t played for or all these other factors, I had to play my best and give it my all.”
“I’m obviously grateful that I’ve had a run in the team, and I need to know to take my chance and do my best at all times and that’s the mentality I have to approach every game with and do my best whenever I have the chance.”
Looking to the future, Kilman says that international football would be the dream, but not necessarily with England. Due to his parents nationality, he has a wide range of options.
“Yes so I have a Russian passport, but I don’t have a Ukrainian passport but my mum does so I am eligible to play for both but of course I’d love to play for England, thinking of how big they are as a country in football and if the times ever comes I will have to make a decision but I will keep all the doors open.”
Jacob Frain Thats Sport 