Hugh Redmond Kelly (17 August 1919 – 30 September 1977) was an Irish 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 le ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for various clubs in Northern Ireland and England, making four international appearances for

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

Football career

Northern Ireland

Kelly was born in

Lurgan Lurgan () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, near the southern shore of Lough Neagh. Lurgan is about south-west of Belfast and is linked to the city by both the M1 motorway and the Belfast–Dublin railway line. It had a population ...

and played

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

with

Clan na Gael Clan na Gael ( ga, label=modern Irish orthography, Clann na nGael, ; "family of the Gaels") was an Irish republican organization in the United States in the late 19th and 20th centuries, successor to the Fenian Brotherhood and a sister org ...

while working in the family

drapery Drapery is a general word referring to cloths or textiles (Old French , from Late Latin ). It may refer to cloth used for decorative purposes – such as around windows – or to the trade of retailing cloth, originally mostly for clothin ...

firm. He also represented

Armagh Armagh ( ; ga, Ard Mhacha, , "Macha's height") is the county town of County Armagh and a city in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Pri ...

Gaelic handball Gaelic handball (known in Ireland simply as handball; ga, liathróid láimhe) is a sport where players hit a ball with a hand or fist against a wall in such a way as to make a shot the opposition cannot return, and that may be played with two ( ...

. He was invited to play Association football for

Glenavon Glenavon Football Club is a Northern Irish semi-professional football club that competes in the NIFL Premiership. Founded in 1889, the club hails from Lurgan and plays its home matches at Mourneview Park. Club colours are blue and white. Gar ...

by manager Andy Wylie, who had been impressed with his ball-handling skills. He started his career with Glenavon as an

inside-forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

, but played as goalkeeper when the regular custodian failed to arrive for a match. He became established as the first choice goalkeeper for Glenavon from early in 1937, and soon became recognised as one of the best goalkeepers in Northern Ireland, being selected to represent the

Irish League XI The Irish League representative team was the representative side of the Irish Football League, the national league for football in Northern Ireland from 1922 and, prior to that the league for Ireland. The Irish League was suspended from 1941–42 t ...

against a

Scottish Football League XI The Scottish League XI was a representative side of the Scottish Football League. The team regularly played against the (English) Football League and other national league select teams between 1892 and 1980. For a long period the annual fixture be ...

in September 1938. In 1940, he helped Glenavon reach the final of the

Irish Cup The Irish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly referred to as the Irish Cup (currently known as the Samuel Gelston's Whiskey Irish Cup for sponsorship purposes) is the primary football knock-out cup competition in Northern Ireland. Ina ...

, losing 2–0 to

Ballymena United Ballymena United Football Club is a semi-professional football club from Northern Ireland. Based in Ballymena, County Antrim, the team competes in the NIFL Premiership and plays home matches at the Ballymena Showgrounds which is owned by the Mi ...

. In January 1941, Glenavon suffered a nightmare defeat at the hands of

Belfast Celtic Belfast Celtic Football Club was a football club. Founded in 1891 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, it was one of the most successful teams in Ireland until it withdrew permanently from the Irish League in 1949. The club left the league for polit ...

, losing 13–0 with Peter O'Connor scoring eleven – this remains an individual British Isles record. Despite this embarrassing defeat, Belfast Celtic's manager,

Elisha Scott Elisha Scott (24 August 1893 – 16 May 1959) was a Northern Irish football goalkeeper who played for Liverpool from 1912 to 1934, and still holds the record as their longest-serving player. Life and playing career Elisha Scott played for Lin ...

(a former goalkeeper), signed Kelly in the summer of 1941 to replace

Tommy Breen Tommy Breen (27 April 1912 – 1 March 1988) was an Irish footballer who played as a goalkeeper for, among others, Belfast Celtic, Manchester United, Linfield and Shamrock Rovers. Breen was a dual international and played for both Ireland t ...

. Whilst with the

Celtic Park Celtic Park is the home stadium of Celtic Football Club, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest football stadium in Scotland, and the eighth-largest stadium in the United Kingdom. It is also ...

club, Kelly claimed two Irish Cup winner's medals with victories over

Glentoran Glentoran Football Club is a professional football club that plays in the NIFL Premiership. The club was founded in 1882. History Early history In 1914, Glentoran won the Vienna Cup, becoming the first United Kingdom team to win a European t ...

in 1943 (1–0) and Linfield in 1944 (3–1). Kelly may have claimed more honours but a contractual dispute left him on the side-lines for some time. Never afraid to stand-up to authority, when he was reprimanded by Scott with the words, "My grandmother could have played better out there", Kelly adjusted the following week's team-sheet, putting a line through his own name and replacing it with "Lish's granny". Kelly made his final appearances for the club during their spring 1949 tour of the United States; during that tour, Belfast Celtic defeated

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

2–0 with Kelly in goal. By this time, Belfast Celtic were embroiled in financial problems and about to quit the Irish League and were eventually disbanded. To raise funds, Kelly and three of his team-mates (including Johnny Campbell) had been sold to

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

for a combined fee of £25,000 before the tour to America.

England

At Fulham, Kelly took the place of another Irish international goalkeeper,

Ted Hinton Ted Cass Hinton (October 5, 1904 – October 27, 1977) was a Dallas County, Texas, deputy sheriff, the youngest of the posse that ambushed and killed Bonnie and Clyde near Gibsland, Louisiana, on May 23, 1934. History Hinton, then aged 29 ...

, who was transferred to

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east ...

. He spent one season at

Craven Cottage Craven Cottage is a football ground in Fulham, West London, England, which has been the home of Fulham F.C. since 1896.According to the club'official website The ground's capacity is 22,384; the record attendance is 49,335, for a game against M ...

in the

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 ...

, with the club finishing 17th in the table. He became noted as one of the heaviest goalkeepers in the Football League, with his weight reaching nearly 14 stone. Kelly earned his first international cap on 16 November 1949 against

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 ...

in a World Cup qualifier, replacing his namesake Pat Kelly who had conceded eight goals in the previous international against the Scots. Hugh Kelly conceded nine goals against the English, of which four were scored by

Jack Rowley John Frederick Rowley (7 October 1918 – 28 June 1998) was an English footballer who played as a forward from the 1930s to the 1950s, mainly remembered for a 17-year spell with Manchester United. He was nicknamed "The Gunner" because of his p ...

and two each by

Jack Froggatt Jack Froggatt (17 November 1922 – 17 February 1993) was an English footballer. Career Coming from a footballing family, Froggatt started his football career in 1945, whilst in the RAF. Froggatt's uncle, Frank and cousin, Redfern Froggatt bot ...

and

Stan Mortensen Stanley Harding Mortensen (26 May 1921 – 22 May 1991) was an English professional footballer, most famous for his part in the 1953 FA Cup Final (subsequently known as the "Matthews Final"), in which he became the only player ever to score a h ...

. Despite the margin of defeat, Kelly was awarded his second cap, against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

on 8 March 1950, this time keeping a

clean sheet In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

in a goalless draw. In August 1950, he dropped down to the Second Division, when he joined

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

in a straight swap for Scottish international 'keeper, Ian Black. At The Dell, Kelly earned a reputation as a "colourful character", who would often gather the ball single-handed as in Gaelic Football. During his first season with the "Saints", Kelly earned a further two international caps against England (lost 4–1) and Scotland (lost 6–1), before Hinton was recalled. By the end of the season, Kelly had fallen out of favour with the Southampton manager,

Sid Cann Sydney Thomas Cann (30 October 1911 – 1 November 1996) was an English professional football defender and football manager. He was capped twice by England at Schools level. Playing career Born in Babbacombe, Torquay, Sid Cann joined Torquay U ...

, following disciplinary problems after a match at

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, 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 l ...

in April 1951. After the match, the team stayed in the Midlands to play a friendly match at

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. Kelly returned to the team hotel with

Ken Chisholm Kenneth McTaggart Chisholm (12 April 1925 – 30 April 1990) was a Scottish footballer, who played for a number of teams in The Football League and the Scottish Football League as a forward. Club career Chisholm, a former RAF fighter pilot, beg ...

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

and two young ladies. When the Southampton trainer,

Jimmy Easson James Ferrier Easson (3 January 1906 – 20 May 1983) was a Scottish footballer who played as an inside-forward for Portsmouth in the English Football League, helping them reach the FA Cup Final in 1934. He also made three appearances for the S ...

, tried to get the ladies to leave, he and Kelly had an argument which culminated in Kelly giving the trainer a

black eye A periorbital hematoma, commonly called a black eye or a shiner (associated with boxing or stick sports such as hockey), is bruising around the eye commonly due to an injury to the face rather than to the eye. The name refers to the dark-color ...

. As a result, Kelly was immediately placed on the

transfer-list The transfer market is the arena in which football players are available for transfer to clubs. The transfer market consists of a list of players available for transfer, and also the money moving between clubs as they contest to purchase and sell ...

, with John Christie taking over from him in goal for the last two matches of the season. By now completely out of favour, Kelly was fifth choice 'keeper behind Fred Kiernan, Christie, Len Stansbridge and Eddie Thomas and was unable even to get a match in the reserves, spending the whole of 1951–52 on the sidelines, with some time back in Ireland. Eventually, he was "rescued" by

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

, whom he joined in June 1952, spending four years in

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

before winding up his career at Weymouth.

International appearances

Kelly made four appearances for Ireland in international matches as follows:

Honours

Glenavon *

finalist: 1940 Belfast Celtic *

winners: 1943, 1944 * Irish League champions: 1947–48

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Hugh 1919 births 1977 deaths Association footballers from Lisburn Men's association footballers from Northern Ireland Men's association football goalkeepers Northern Ireland men's international footballers Glenavon F.C. players Belfast Celtic F.C. players Fulham F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players Weymouth F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players Pre-1950 IFA men's international footballers Gaelic footballers who switched code Irish League representative players