Gary Oliver Kelly (born 9 July 1974) is an Irish 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 le ...

who played his entire professional career with

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...

. He played as a

right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

or a

right midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

from 1992 until 2007 and made 531 appearances in total for Leeds, being the only player at Leeds to make more than 500 appearances from outside the stewardship of

Don Revie Donald George Revie OBE (10 July 1927 – 26 May 1989) was an England international footballer and manager, best known for his successful spell with Leeds United from 1961 until 1974, which immediately preceded his appointment as England manage ...

Career

Kelly, the youngest of a family of 13, originally started playing football as a striker, and was reasonably successful in this position for Home Farm. However, when he joined Leeds, then boss

Howard Wilkinson Howard Wilkinson (born 13 November 1943) is an English former footballer and manager. Despite having a low-profile playing career, Wilkinson embarked on a successful managerial career. He won the First Division championship in 1992 with Leeds ...

recognised qualities in him that would make a very good wing-back.Gary Kelly Testimonial Program. Leeds United Vs. Celtic, Tuesday 7 May 2002 Kelly made his debut for Leeds in the 1991–92 season, although he did not become a regular in the side until the 1993–94 season, when Wilkinson made him his first choice right-back following the injury-induced retirement of

Mel Sterland Melvyn Sterland (born 1 October 1961 in Sheffield) is an English former professional Association football, footballer who played in the Football League for Sheffield Wednesday F.C., Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds United F.C., Leeds United and in t ...

, occasionally filing in at centre back when needed. He had played just twice in the 1991–92 season, when Leeds were champions of the last old

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

before the

FA Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

was created, and did not qualify for a title winner's medal. He was selected in the Premier League team of the season for the 1993–94 campaign. By the end of that season, he had also played himself into

Jack Charlton John Charlton (8 May 193510 July 2020) was an English footballer and manager who played as a defender. He was part of the England national team that won the 1966 World Cup and managed the Republic of Ireland national team from 1986 to 199 ...

's Republic of Ireland squad that went to the 1994 World Cup in the USA. Kelly was one of the "Three Amigos" alongside

Phil Babb Philip Andrew Babb (born 30 November 1970) is a sports television pundit and former professional football player and manager. As a player he was a central defender who made over 370 league appearances during his career, most notably spending ...

and

Jason McAteer Jason Wynne McAteer (born 18 June 1971) is a former professional footballer. His primary position was in centre midfield, though he was also an able right winger and full-back. During his professional career from 1992 to 2007, McAteer played ...

whose youthful exuberance rejuvenated an ageing Irish squad. Kelly scored in a 2–0 victory over Germany in a warm-up friendly before those finals. Kelly was installed by

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 ...

as his skipper in the 1997–98 season, at the age of 23. Kelly was generally a regular either at right back or right midfield in every subsequent season he played for Leeds, except for 1998–99, when shin splints ruined his season (this injury would reoccur in subsequent seasons). But Kelly forced his way back into the Leeds first team, in 1999–2000, making the right back role his own, despite the signing of

Danny Mills Daniel John Mills (born 18 May 1977) is an English former professional footballer best known for his time at Leeds United. His main position was right-back, though he could also play as a centre-back. On 7 August 2009, he announced his retirem ...

in the summer of 1999. Kelly once again took over as skipper when

Lucas Radebe Lucas Valeriu Ntuba Radebe OIS (born 12 April 1969) is a South African former professional footballer who played as a centre back. He began playing in South Africa with Kaizer Chiefs, before transferring to Leeds United, where he played 256 m ...

was on international duty. He was rewarded with a testimonial match in May 2002, played against

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

. The proceeds from this match were donated to several cancer charities chosen by Kelly (mainly Teenage Cancer Charity in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

and Cancer Support Centre in Drogheda), in dedication to his sister, Mandy, who died from the disease in 1998 aged only 35. Seen by a crowd of 26,440, Celtic won this match, which generated nearly £1million in receipts – making up the majority of the total £1.5million which was raised open a cancer centre in his native Drogheda. He is also only the 10th player to ever make over 500 appearances for Leeds United, making the feat against

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

in Leeds' 2–1 victory 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 ...

on 25 February 2006. Kelly played regularly in the first half of his 16th season at Leeds. But at that stage, he had fallen out with

Ken Bates Kenneth William Bates (born 4 December 1931) is a British businessman, football executive and hotelier. He was involved in the development of Wembley Stadium and is the former owner and chairman of football clubs Chelsea and Leeds United. Bates ...

and new Leeds manager, Dennis Wise. On 26 October 2006, Wise revealed

Shaun Derry Shaun Peter Derry (born 6 December 1977) is an English former professional footballer and manager. He previously managed Notts County and Cambridge United, and played for Crystal Palace, Leeds United and Queens Park Rangers among other clubs. De ...

was replacing Kelly as the new Leeds vice captain. After 16 years of loyal service to the club, a presentation of a crystal cut vase was made to Kelly at the last home game of the 2006–07 season by former Leeds United players

Paul Reaney Paul Reaney (born 22 October 1944) is an English former international footballer. He played primarily as a right-sided full-back. He made 745 first-team appearances at Leeds United from 1962 to 1978, winning six major trophies under Don Revi ...

, Allan Clarke, Mick Jones, and

Frank Worthington Frank Stewart Worthington (23 November 1948 – 22 March 2021) was an English footballer who played as a forward. Worthington was born into a footballing family in Shelf, near Halifax, West Riding of Yorkshire. Both of his parents had played ...

International career

Kelly scored three goals in the

1992 UEFA European Under-18 Football Championship The UEFA European Under-18 Championship 1992 Final Tournament was held in Germany. It also served as the European qualification for the 1993 FIFA World Youth Championship. Teams The following teams qualified for the tournament: * (qualified a ...

qualifiers and won 52 international caps playing for the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

scoring two goals, before his retirement from international football. He represented them at both the

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States ...

and

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

Personal life

Kelly is the uncle of fellow Irish international and Leeds teammate

Ian Harte Ian Patrick Harte (born 31 August 1977) is an Irish football agent and former professional footballer who played as a left back. He was best known for his ability to score goals from long range, including being a free kick specialist. He be ...

. Kelly and Harte were both part of Ireland's 2002 World Cup squad. Kelly was also regarded amongst the Leeds squad as being a prankster and joker, having pulled several different stunts, including wearing

Nicky Byrne Nicholas Bernard James Adam Byrne Jr. (born 9 October 1978) is an Irish pop singer, songwriter and radio and television presenter, best known for being a member of the pop group Westlife; he is the band's oldest member. Westlife has since rele ...

Westlife Westlife is an Irish pop vocal group formed in Dublin, Ireland in 1998. The group currently consists of members Shane Filan, Mark Feehily, Kian Egan, and Nicky Byrne. Brian McFadden was a member, until he left in 2004. The group temporarily di ...

's clothes for a training session when Byrne had got changed to join in with the training session. Byrne used to be part of the youth team set up at Leeds United during the mid-1990s, and is a friend of Kelly.

Career statistics

Club

International goals

:''Scores and results list Ireland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kelly goal.''

Honours

Individual *

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's English football; the Premie ...

: 1993–94 Premier League, 1999–2000 Premier League,

2005–06 Football League Championship The 2005–06 Football League Championship (known as the Coca-Cola Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the second season of the league under its current title and fourteenth season under its current league division format. Reading dominate ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Gary 1974 births Living people People from Drogheda Association footballers from County Louth Republic of Ireland association footballers Republic of Ireland under-21 international footballers Republic of Ireland youth international footballers Republic of Ireland international footballers Association football fullbacks Drogheda United F.C. players Home Farm F.C. players Leeds United F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players 1994 FIFA World Cup players 2002 FIFA World Cup players Republic of Ireland men's futsal players