Jeremy Kelly (born October 21, 1997) is an American professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who plays as a defender for

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the second tier of the United States soccer league system#Men's leagues, United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) a ...

club

Charleston Battery The Charleston Battery are an American professional association football, soccer club based in Charleston, South Carolina, and member of the USL Championship. Founded in 1993, the Battery are the oldest continuously operating professional socc ...

Youth

Kelly signed an amateur contract with

Carolina RailHawks North Carolina FC is an American professional soccer team in Cary, North Carolina, a suburb of Raleigh, and member of the USL Championship. Founded in 2006, the team previously was named the Carolina Railhawks. On December 6, 2016, the RailH ...

on March 17, 2016. His amateur status would allow him to play

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

for

North Carolina Tar Heels The North Carolina Tar Heels (also Carolina Tar Heels) are the college sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The name Tar Heel is a nickname used to refer to ...

when their college season began later in the year. Kelly played four years at UNC, starting 59 of his 79 appearances and tallying one goals and 2 assists. Kelly was an obstacle to the UNC's midfield en route to consecutive NCAA College Cup appearances. He was a second-team All-ACC selection in his senior year.

Professional

Colorado Rapids

On January 9, 2020, Kelly was selected ninth overall in the

2020 MLS SuperDraft The 2020 MLS SuperDraft was the 21st edition of the SuperDraft conducted by Major League Soccer. The 2020 SuperDraft was the first SuperDraft held exclusively via conference call and web streaming. The first two rounds of the 2020 SuperDraft we ...

by Montreal Impact. His rights were then immediately traded to

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Founded in ...

in exchange for $75,000 of General Allocation Money and the Rapids natural first round selection. On February 25, 2020, the Rapids officially announced the signing of Kelly to an initial one-year contract. He made his MLS debut against Real Salt Lake in the

MLS is Back Tournament The MLS is Back Tournament took place during the 2020 Major League Soccer season to mark the league's return to action after being suspended as a result of the Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports, COVID-19 pandemic. Of the 26 Major League ...

on July 12, 2020. Kelly recorded his first career assist during a 5–0 win versus

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake (RSL) is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Fou ...

on Sept. 12. He finished his rookie season with one assist in 246 minutes played across eight appearances at right back, two of them starts. In March 2021, Kelly joined

Phoenix Rising FC Phoenix Rising Football Club is an American professional soccer team based in Phoenix, Arizona. Founded in 2014 as Arizona United Soccer Club, the team is a member of the USL Championship. They won the league championship in 2023, defeating the ...

on loan for the 2021 season. On July 1, 2021, Kelly was recalled from loan by the Rapids. Following the 2021 season, Colorado opted to decline their contract option on Kelly.

Memphis 901

On February 18, 2022, he signed with USL Championship club

Memphis 901 Memphis 901 FC was an American professional association football, soccer team based in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 2018, the team made its debut in the USL Championship in 2019. On November 13, 2024, it was announced that the team would be ...

. He left Memphis following the 2023 season.

Crawley Town

Kelly joined

FC Tulsa FC Tulsa is an American professional soccer team based in Tulsa, Oklahoma which competes in the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. History The club was founded as Tulsa Roughnecks FC by Jeff and Dale Hubbard, br ...

on January 5, 2024, but Kelly and Tulsa mutually agreed on a termination of his contract a month later. On February 1, 2024, Kelly signed for

EFL League Two The English Football League Two, simply known as League Two and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet League Two, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League Two is the fourth division of the English ...

club

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1896 as Crawley Foo ...

on a deal until summer 2024. He made his debut for the club as a substitute in a 1–0 defeat to

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, England. Its first team competes in League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' ...

on February 10. Kelly appeared in all three of Crawley's League Two play-off matches at the end of the 2023–24 as Crawley were promoted to League One after a 2–0 victory over

in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

Charleston Battery

On June 25, 2025, it was announced Kelly would return to the United States and join USL Championship side

on a multi-year deal, reuniting him with former Memphis manager Ben Pirmann in Charleston.

International

Kelly was named to

Tab Ramos Tabaré "Tab" Ramos Ricciardi (born September 21, 1966) is an American former soccer player and coach. Over his thirteen-year professional career, Ramos played as a midfielder in Spain, Mexico, and the United States. The first player to sign wi ...

' U.S. U-20 squad for camp and two friendlies against

New York Cosmos New York Cosmos may refer to * New York Cosmos (1970–1985), a team in the North American Soccer League (then the top-tier soccer league in the United States and Canada) * New York Cosmos (2010), a team playing since 2020 in the National Indepen ...

and

New York Red Bulls II New York Red Bulls II is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Montclair, New Jersey. They are the reserve team of the New York Red Bulls and play in MLS Next Pro, the third tier in the American soccer pyramid. Hi ...

in July 2016. Kelly scored in stoppage time to defeat NYRBII. Kelly was born in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

in the Czech Republic, and lived in France until he was 10 years old. He later moved to North Carolina

Career statistics

Honors

Crawley Town *

EFL League Two play-offs The EFL League Two play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from fourth to seventh in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are part of the annual Engl ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

References

External links

*
Jeremy Kelly
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Jeremy 1997 births Living people American men's soccer players CF Montréal draft picks North Carolina Tar Heels men's soccer players North Carolina FC players Men's association football midfielders Soccer players from North Carolina North American Soccer League (2011–2017) players United States men's under-20 international soccer players North Carolina FC U23 players Sportspeople from Chapel Hill, North Carolina San Francisco City FC players Colorado Rapids players Phoenix Rising FC players Memphis 901 FC players USL Championship players FC Tulsa players Crawley Town F.C. players Charleston Battery players American expatriate men's soccer players Expatriate men's footballers in England American expatriate sportspeople in England English Football League players 21st-century American sportsmen Cardinal Gibbons High School (North Carolina) alumni