Robert Sydney William Kellard (1 March 1943 – 10 January 2021) was an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

. He represented

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

at youth level.

Early league career

Kellard, a much-travelled midfielder, began his career as a junior with

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

and became Southend's youngest ever league player (at the age of 16 years and 208 days) in September 1959 when he started the game at

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. ...

. He turned professional in May 1960 and went on to score 15 times in 106 games for the Shrimpers before earning a £9,000 move to

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

in September 1963. After 6 goals in 77 games he moved to

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

, but played only 13 times before moving to

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

in March 1966.

Mid career

In July 1968, after 91 games for Portsmouth in which he scored eight times, he moved to

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

for a fee of £30,000, where he scored six times in 77 games before moving to

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

, in August 1970, for a fee of £50,000. He helped Leicester to promotion in 1971 and helped them win the

1971 FA Charity Shield The 1971 FA Charity Shield was a football match between Leicester City and Liverpool at Filbert Street on Saturday 7 August 1971. Arsenal won the double in 1970–71 but were unable to take part in the Charity Shield because they had contracted ...

, but left in September 1971 to rejoin

, for a fee of £50,000, having scored eight goals in 49 games for the Foxes. He was signed by Palace as a replacement for Steve Kember who they had sold to

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

for £170,000, and he fitted in so well that by November he had been made captain. However, on 29 December 1972, Kellard moved on to

having made 46 appearances in his second spell at Palace, scoring 4 times.

Later career

In December 1972 he moved back to

, having scored four times in 46 games for Palace. At Portsmouth he gained the unwanted honour of being the first player sent off on a Sunday when he was dismissed against Orient in January 1974. The following January he joined

Hereford United Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'Th ...

on loan, and later in 1975 left to play in South Africa for Durban City F.C., having scored six times in 62 games for Pompey. He moved to

Cape Town City A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck. History Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon. Th ...

, but returned to England in September 1975, joining

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

, but played only twice for

Malcolm Musgrove Malcolm Clarke Musgrove (8 July 1933 − 14 September 2007) was an English football player and manager. Musgrove played for his local side, Lynemouth Colliery, before being called up for national service, which he served in the Royal Air Force ...

's side, the first being a 7–1 defeat away to

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ado ...

and the last against

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded i ...

, before leaving league football to join

Chelmsford City Chelmsford City Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Chelmsford, Essex, England. Currently members of they play at the Melbourne Stadium. History Chelmsford Chelmsford Football Club was established in 1878 by members of ...

After league career finished

In January 1976 he was appointed player-manager of Chelmsford City, a position he held until May 1977. He later played for Grays Athletic. He later spent several years running a taxi business in

Southend Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...

, but in 1999 was trading as an antiques dealer. More recently he had a spell as joint-manager of Harlow Town along with former

player

Len Glover Leonard Glover (born 31 January 1944) is a retired footballer, a flamboyant left winger who played for Charlton Athletic and Leicester City. Considered one of the greatest players to don a Leicester City shirt and once described as the "best unca ...

. In July 2004, the ''Evening Echo'' reported that Kellard was living in Spain. Kellard had a stroke in February 2020. He died on 10 January 2021, aged 77.Portsmouth mourn the death of former midfielder Bobby Kellard
10 January 2021. Retrieved 10 January 2021.

References

External links

*

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Kellard, Bobby 1943 births 2021 deaths Footballers from the London Borough of Enfield People from Edmonton, London Men's association football midfielders English men's footballers Southend United F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Ipswich Town F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players Leicester City F.C. players Hereford United F.C. players Cape Town City F.C. (NFL) players Torquay United F.C. players Chelmsford City F.C. players Grays Athletic F.C. players English Football League players English football managers Harlow Town F.C. managers Chelmsford City F.C. managers National Football League (South Africa) players