Edward Patrick Kelly (born 7 February 1951) is a Scottish former

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 ...

, who played as a midfielder. Kelly featured for clubs Arsenal,

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

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 ...

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...

, AFC Bournemouth, Kettering Town and

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 ...

Club career

Kelly was born in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

and played for local side Possil YM, an Arsenal nursery side, before moving south to join English club Arsenal as an apprentice in July 1966; he turned professional 18 months later. A regular in the reserves and for

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

U-23 side, he made his debut for Arsenal on 6 September 1969 against

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...

and quickly made a name for himself. He made 16 appearances in the 1969–70 season, including scoring a goal in the Gunners' 4–3 aggregate win over Anderlecht in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup final. Better was to come the next season for the young central

midfield Midfield is the part of a sports field that lies approximately in the center. In American football, association football (soccer) and field hockey, it is the area in and around the center circle, as well as the players who occupy that region. In ...

er. Kelly made 34 appearances as Arsenal won the Double; he came on as a substitute in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

final against

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

, and scored the Gunners' equaliser in extra time in a goalmouth scramble.

George Graham George Graham (born 30 November 1944), nicknamed "Stroller", is a Scottish former Association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. In his successful playing career, he made 455 appearances in England's Football ...

made a claim for the goal, but the replays show Kelly was the last Arsenal player to touch the ball. Kelly was thus the first substitute to score in an FA Cup final.Firsts, Lasts & Onlys - Paul Donnelley (Bounty Books, 2012)

Charlie George Frederick Charles George (born 10 October 1950) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward. George began his career as a youngster with Arsenal and was part of their 1970–71 League and FA Cup Double-winning team ...

scored soon after to win the match 2–1. Injury hampered Kelly's next two seasons at Arsenal, but he became a near-ever present in 1974–75. He was made club captain at the age of 23; only

Tony Adams Tony Alexander Adams (born 10 October 1966) is an English former football manager and player. Adams played for Arsenal and England, captaining both teams. He spent his entire playing career of 19 years as a centre back at Arsenal, making 672 t ...

has captained Arsenal at a younger age. However, Kelly lost his place the following season and became quite unsettled. After making a transfer request, he joined

in September 1976, having played 222 times and scoring nine goals altogether for Arsenal. Kelly spent only a single season at QPR before being signed for

by former Arsenal and QPR teammate

Frank McLintock Francis McLintock MBE (born 28 December 1939) is a former Scotland international footballer, football manager and businessman. He also worked as a sports agent and football pundit in his later life. He began his career in Scottish Junior footb ...

in the summer of 1977. He spent three seasons at

Filbert Street Filbert Street was a football stadium in Leicester, England, which served as the home of Leicester City F.C. from 1891 until 2002. Although officially titled the City Business Stadium in the early 1990s, it remained known almost exclusively by ...

, playing 119 times and scoring 3 goals. Leicester were relegated to the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

in 1978 but then returned to the top flight as champions the following year. He went on to have short spells at

, AFC Bournemouth and

, before retiring.

International career

Kelly featured for Scotland's Under 19 and Under 23 teams.

Personal life

He now lives in

Torquay Torquay ( ) is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies south of the county town of Exeter and east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paig ...

, and works for Arsenal on their legends tours of the Emirates Stadium.

Honours

Arsenal * First Division: 1970–71 *

: 1970–71 * Inter-Cities Fairs Cup: 1969–70 Leicester City *

: 1980–81

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Eddie 1951 births AFC Bournemouth players Arsenal F.C. players Men's association football midfielders Kettering Town F.C. players Leicester City F.C. players Living people Notts County F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Scottish men's footballers English Football League players Torquay United F.C. players Scotland men's under-23 international footballers Footballers from Glasgow Saltash United F.C. players