Kris Boyd was one of the deadliest Rangers strikers in the club’s modern history.
The Tarbolton native was the ultimate goal poacher throughout his career and spent his prime years at Ibrox delivering the goods in front of goal.
Boyd would help fire Rangers to six major trophies throughout his time there and returned for a second spell a few years later when the club were in the second tier of Scottish football.
He is the Scottish Premier League’s all-time top scorer with 167 goals – registering nine more than Celtic legend Henrik Larsson – and won the league’s Golden Boot award five times.
Boyd would also represent Kilmarnock on three occasions, as well as Middlesbrough, Nottingham Forest, Portland Timbers and Eskişehirspor. He is now a regular on our TV screens for Sky Sports as a pundit.
Here is absolutely everything you need to know about former Rangers striker Kris Boyd as we answer all of your frequently asked questions.
What age is Kris Boyd?
Kris Boyd was born in Irvine on August 18, 1983. He grew up in the nearby village of Tarbolton in South Ayrshire before starting his professional career with Kilmarnock.
As of March 2024, Boyd is 40 years old.
Kris Boyd wife
Kris Boyd married Christine McIlwraith in June 2012, as per the Daily Record. The ceremony was conducted in the seaside town of Troon in Ayrshire. Boyd was playing for Portland Timbers in the United States at the time.
Kris and Christine have two children together, Brooke and Savannah.
Kris Boyd Twitter
Kris Boyd does not have his own official account on X, formerly known as Twitter. However, his charity The Kris Boyd Charity has an official account on the platform:
The Kris Boyd Charity
Devastatingly for Kris Boyd and his family, his younger brother Scott committed suicide in September 2016 without explanation.
For this reason, coupled with his wife Christine’s anxiety struggles, Boyd felt it was only right to set up The Kris Boyd Charity in January 2018.
Through the charity, Kris is keen to shed more light on mental health issues, raise awareness and “aim to end the stigma with sports and mental health.”
The Kris Boyd Charity has provided talks at over 25 schools across Ayrshire and Glasgow while also aiding corporate businesses with mental health programmes.
From events and donations alone, the charity has raised more the £200,000 and have made their own sizeable donations to organisations such as the Little Art School in Glasgow and the Samaritans.
How many goals did Kris Boyd score for Rangers?
After coming through the ranks at Kilmarnock and proving himself to be one of the best young goalscorers in Scotland, Rangers signed Boyd in January 2006.
Boyd would spend four years with the Ibrox giants during his first spell before returning for a brief stint during the 2014/15 season when the club were competing in the Scottish Championship.
Boyd was naturally deadly in front of goal and helped Rangers win a number of major honours with his strike rate. As per Transfermarkt, here is a season-by-season breakdown of Kris Boyd’s goals for Rangers across all competitions:
- 2005/06 – 19 appearances, 17 goals
- 2006/07 – 38 appearances, 23 goals
- 2007/08 – 34 appearances, 18 goals
- 2008/09 – 42 appearances, 29 goals
- 2009/10 – 40 appearances, 26 goals
- 2014/15 – 43 appearances, 10 goals
- Overall – 216 appearances, 123 goals
- Major trophies – Scottish Premier League (x2), Scottish Cup (x2), Scottish League Cup (x2)
Kris Boyd goals against Celtic
As per Transfermarkt, Kris Boyd played in nine Old Firm derbies with Rangers against Celtic between 2006 and 2010 – but the striker managed just one goal in the famous fixture.
That came in May 2007 when Boyd opened the scoring at Ibrox in the 34th minute. Rangers went on to win the game 2-0 with Charlie Adam adding to the scoreline.
When and why did Kris Boyd leave Rangers?
Kris Boyd left Rangers for the first time in the summer of 2010 after confirmation from manager Walter Smith in the May [BBC Sport Scotland].
Boyd rejected the offer a new contract from the Ibrox club amid transfer interest from a number of English clubs. The marksman would eventually sign for Middlesbrough under former Celtic manager Gordon Strachan.
Boyd would return to Rangers in 2014 for a second spell but lasted just one season. Rangers released him at the end of an unsuccessful 2014/15 campaign as they failed to gain promotion to the Scottish Premiership.
Kris Boyd at Sky Sports
Boyd is currently one of the lead pundits for Sky Sports’ live TV coverage of the Scottish Premiership.
He is a regular on Sky Sports’ Soccer Saturday programme which sees a panel of pundits offer live reaction and analysis to games across the Premier League, EFL and Scottish Premiership.
Boyd can also be seen reporting live from the Sky Sports studio whilst watching Rangers or Celtic in European competition.
Kris Boyd’s Callum McGregor comments
In February 2022, Kris Boyd wrote comments regarding Celtic captain Callum McGregor in his weekly column for The Scottish Sun.
Boyd was referring to the recent Old Firm game at the time as Celtic won 3-0 against Rangers at Parkhead. He said: “Look at Celtic. Callum McGregor played with a fractured cheekbone.
“The fact he managed to get through the 90 minutes without anyone testing out that face mask is another story, but his commitment to the team was tremendous.”
Celtic took issue with the comments and it also prompted Sky Sports to issue a reminder to their employee regarding “the language and context he (Boyd) uses in articulating and telling a story.”
Boyd is said to have reached out privately to McGregor to clarify the comments and the Hoops captain said thereafter: “When you first see the comments, it doesn’t make great reading.
“It doesn’t look good in that sense but it has been rectified since then and we have had a chat as well. So it’s put to bed now, it’s absolutely fine, we just move on.
“I think he recognises it was a poor choice of words in the beginning and for me that’s it.”
Boyd released a statement regarding the matter, writing: “Some have taken that line to mean I wanted one of the Rangers players to intentionally try and hurt the midfielder.
“However, that is absolutely and unequivocally NOT the case. It was simply meant as a criticism of the Rangers players for their failure to get close to McGregor.”
