John Kelly (2 March 1913 – 2000) 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 le ...

who scored 32 goals from 109 appearances in the Football League playing for Burnley,

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

, Leeds United, Birmingham and

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...

Career

Kelly was born in Hetton-le-Hole,

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

. He played for his local junior side before joining Burnley, initially as an

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

, in October 1930. He made his debut in the Football League for Burnley, and joined

as part of a player exchange deal in April 1933. He rarely appeared for Newcastle's first team, and moved on to Leeds United in February 1935 for a fee of £1,150. He was first choice at

centre 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 ...

in the 1935–36 season, scoring 15 goals in 34 games in the First Division, but lost out the following season to

Arthur Hydes Arthur Hydes (24 November 1911 – 1990) was an English football player born in Barnsley. He played for Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club compet ...

. After a season and a half playing in the Central League with only occasional appearances for the first team, Kelly joined Birmingham in January 1938. He went straight into the starting eleven, but lost his place after eight games without a goal, and made only four appearances in the 1938–39 season.Matthews, pp. 180–81. In May 1939 he joined

, but after three games and one goal the Football League was abandoned for the duration of the Second World War. Kelly retired from the game during the war. He was a butcher by trade, and also worked part-time as a magician. He died in Hetton-le-Hole in 2000.

Notes

A. These appearances and goal are for the

1939–40 Football League The abandoned 1939–40 season would have been the 48th season of The Football League. The kick-off in all divisions took place on Saturday 26 August 1939.Ian Laschke: ''Rothmans Book of Football League Records 1888–89 to 1978–79''. Macdonald ...

season abandoned when the Second World War started.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Jack 1913 births 2000 deaths Footballers from Hetton-le-Hole English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Burnley F.C. players Newcastle United F.C. players Leeds United F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Bury F.C. players English Football League players