James Kelly (15 October 1865 – 20 February 1932) was a Scottish footballer who played for Renton,

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and Scotland. At Renton, his hometown club, Kelly had won the Scottish Cup twice (

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and

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), as well as a beaten finalist in

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and a 'World Champion' after they defeated West Bromwich Albion in an 1888 challenge match. Converted from an inside forward to a

centre-half 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 ...

of attacking bent in what was an important evolution in tactics developed at Renton, he was the first Celtic

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, playing in their first-ever match, a 5–2 win against

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in May 1888 (less than two weeks after playing in Renton's World Championship game). He added to his medal collection with another Scottish Cup in

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alongside former Renton teammate Neil McCallum, becoming the first players to win the competition with two different clubs. Kelly also won the

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km south ...

title in 1892–93, 1893–94 and 1895–96 (and reached three other cup finals, albeit losing them all), playing a major role in the establishment of Celtic as one of the leading clubs in the country. He was capped nine times by Scotland and scored twice.James Kelly
The Celtic Wiki He also appeared seven times for the Scottish League XI. After retiring as a player, Kelly became a director of Celtic, serving as chairman between 1909 and 1914. His descendants Bob Kelly, Michael Kelly and Kevin Kelly also became Celtic directors; a son, Frank also briefly played for the club prior to his death in World War I, and in 1934 another Celtic player Willie Hughes married James Kelly's daughter Bridie, two years after he died.Celtic Player Weds
newspaper scan, 1934, via The Celtic Wiki

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, James 1865 births 1932 deaths Scottish footballers Association football central defenders Footballers from West Dunbartonshire Renton F.C. players Celtic F.C. players Scottish Football League players Scotland international footballers Scottish Football League representative players Celtic F.C. directors and chairmen Chairmen and investors of football clubs in Scotland Scottish people of Irish descent People from Renton, West Dunbartonshire

See also

References