Andy Kelly (born 8 November 1960), also known by the nicknames of "Boot", and "Big Andy", is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s, and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

ed in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. He played at representative level for England, and at club level for Wakefield Trinity (two spells) (

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

), Hull Kingston Rovers and the Illawarra Steelers (unused substitute in the 24-8 victory over Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks at Endeavour Field, Sydney on Sunday 24 June 1984), as a , and has coached at representative level for Ireland, and at club level for Wakefield Trinity/Wakefield Trinity Wildcats, Gateshead Thunder, Featherstone Rovers and the

Dewsbury Rams The Dewsbury Rams are a professional English rugby league club based in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire that compete in the Championship. They play their home games at the Tetley's Stadium, on Owl Lane. The Rams' main fanbase comes from their hometo ...

Background

Andy Kelly was born in Wakefield, West Riding of Yorkshire, England.

Playing career

Hull Kingston Rovers

Kelly played at in Hull Kingston Rovers' 12–29 defeat by

Hull F.C. Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in West Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition and were ...

in the

1984–85 Yorkshire Cup The 1984–85 Yorkshire Cup was the seventy-seventh occasion on which the Yorkshire Cup competition had been held. This season there were no junior/amateur clubs taking part, no new entrants and no "leavers" and so the total of entries remained ...

Final during the 1984–85 season at Boothferry Park, Kingston upon Hull, on Saturday 27 October 1984, appeared as a substitute (replacing Phil Hogan) in the 22–18 victory over Castleford in the

1985–86 Yorkshire Cup The 1985–86 Yorkshire Cup was the seventy-eighth occasion on which the Yorkshire Cup competition had been held. This season there were no junior/amateur clubs taking part, no "leavers", but one new entrant in the form of newcomers to the league ...

Final during the 1985–86 season at Headingley, Leeds, on Sunday 27 October 1985. Kelly played at in Hull Kingston Rovers' 8–11 defeat by Wigan in the 1985–86 John Player Special Trophy Final during the 1985–86 season at

Elland Road Elland Road is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the home of Premier League club Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the 14th largest football stadium in England. The g ...

, Leeds on Saturday 11 January 1986. Kelly played at in Hull Kingston Rovers' 14–15 defeat by Castleford in the

1985–86 Challenge Cup The 1985–86 Challenge Cup was the 85th staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup. Known as the Silk Cut Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons,. The Preliminary, 1st and 2nd rounds. and Quarter-finals was hit by th ...

Final during the 1985–86 season at Wembley Stadium, London, on Saturday 3 May 1986, in front of a crowd of 82,134.

Wakefield Trinity

Kelly played at and was

in Wakefield Trinity's 8–11 defeat by Castleford in the

1990–91 Yorkshire Cup The 1990–91 Yorkshire Cup was the eighty-third occasion on which the Yorkshire Cup competition had been held. Castleford won the trophy by beating Wakefield Trinity by the score of 11-8 The match was played at Elland Road, Leeds, now in Wes ...

Final during the 1990–91 season at

, Leeds, on Sunday 23 September 1990. During his time at Wakefield Trinity he scored fifteen 3-point tries and, fifteen 4-point tries.

International honours

Andy Kelly won a cap for England while at Wakefield Trinity in 1984 against Wales.

Honours

England International - 1984 RL Championship Winner - 1983/84 & 1984/85 Yorkshire Cup Winner - 1985/86 JPS Trophy R-Up - 1985/86 Premiership Trophy R-Up - 1984/85 Yorkshire Cup R-Up - 1984/85

Coaching career

He is the former head coach of the Ireland national rugby league team having coached them for over 11 years. He is the former coach of

, Wakefield Trinity/Wakefield Trinity Wildcats, Featherstone Rovers, and

Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...

. In December 2013, Kelly was appointed as Head of Youth Performance at Huddersfield Giants. He temporarily coached the senior team in 2016, following the departure of Paul Anderson. In 2019, he took on an additional role at the club as Rugby Manager. Kelly was appointed as coach of the England Academy team in 2015. He was replaced by

Lee Briers Lee Paul Briers (born 14 June 1978) is a professional rugby league coach who is on the coaching staff of the Brisbane Broncos in the NRL, and a former Wales international rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. A Gre ...

in 2017.

Personal life

Andy Kelly is one of three brothers to have played professional Rugby league;

Neil Kelly Neil Kelly (born 10 May 1962) is an English rugby league coach and former professional player who was the head coach of Cornwall RLFC. He played club level rugby league for Dewsbury Rams (two spells), Featherstone Rovers, Wakefield Trinity an ...

played for Wakefield Trinity,

, Hunslet and Featherstone Rovers and Richard Kelly played for Wakefield Trinity and

during the 1980s and 1990s.

References

External links

Kelly Leads Wakefield to Grand Final Glory2010 Kelly eyes Student Cup Shock2008 Kelly hopes for NEW OPPORTUNITIES After World Cup Success2008 Superb Ireland Hammer Samoa2008 Ireland Shake Tonga in World Cup Opener
* 2008 Kelly Names World Cup Squad
2007 Andy Kelly takes Ireland Team to Carnegie University (video)2001 Same again for Ireland
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Andy 1960 births Living people Dewsbury Rams coaches England national rugby league team players English rugby league coaches English rugby league players Featherstone Rovers coaches Newcastle Thunder coaches Hull Kingston Rovers players Ireland national rugby league team coaches Rugby league players from Wakefield Rugby league second-rows Wakefield Trinity coaches Wakefield Trinity players