Damien Kelly is an Irish retired American

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

who played professionally in the

United Soccer League United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a Association football, soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues curren ...

, American Indoor Soccer Association and Southwest Independent Soccer League.

Youth

Kelly attended

Eastern Illinois University Eastern Illinois University is a public university in Charleston, Illinois. Established in 1895 as the Eastern Illinois State Normal School, a teacher's college offering a two-year degree, Eastern Illinois University gradually expanded into a co ...

where he was a 1980 and 1981

First Team First team may refer to: Sports * First team (association football), the colloquial name given to the most senior team fielded by a football club * The First Team, the first players known to have played the sport of basketball * First Team All-A ...

and a 1983 Third Team All American soccer player. He is a member of the Eastern Illinois Panthers Hall of Fame.

Professional

In 1983, the

Tulsa Roughnecks Tulsa Roughnecks may refer to any of four distinct professional soccer teams: *Tulsa Roughnecks (1978–1984), the original top-flight team that played in the North American Soccer League from 1978 to 1984. *Tulsa Roughnecks (1993–2000), the team ...

selected him in the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

draft and the Kansas City Comets selected him in the first round (fifth overall) in the Major Indoor Soccer League draft. In 1984, he signed with the Dallas Sidekicks. In 1985, he played for the

Dallas Americans Dallas Americans was an American soccer club based in Dallas, Texas that was a member of the American Soccer League. After the ASL folded, the club joined the newly formed United Soccer League, which itself lasted two seasons. It is also the name o ...

in the

. In September 1986, he signed with the

Memphis Storm The Memphis Storm was an American soccer team based in Memphis, Tennessee which existed from 1986 to 1994. They underwent several names changes including the Rogues, the Survivors, the United Express and finally the Jackals. They played in the Am ...

of the American Indoor Soccer Association. In 1989, the team came under new ownership which renamed it the Memphis Rogues. In 1990, the Rogues transferred to the Southwest Independent Soccer League and Kelly became a player-coach."ROGUES' GOAL: SURVIVAL" ''The Commercial Appeal'' Sunday, January 13, 1991 Kelly also played for the Ireland Olympic and Youth soccer teams.

References

External links

NASL stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Damien 1958 births Living people American Indoor Soccer Association players Dallas Americans players Dallas Sidekicks (original MISL) players Eastern Illinois Panthers men's soccer players Memphis Storm players Republic of Ireland association footballers Republic of Ireland expatriate association footballers United Soccer League (1984–85) players USISL coaches USISL players Association footballers from Dublin (city) All-American men's college soccer players Association football forwards Republic of Ireland football managers