John Kelly (born 20 October 1960) is a former 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 in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

as a

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 ...

for

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they adop ...

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

, Chester City,

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at ...

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic ...

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...

and

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. The ...

. The son of former

manager Noel Kelly, John established himself as a stylish midfielder in the lower divisions after joining Tranmere from neighbours

Cammell Laird Cammell Laird is a British shipbuilding company. It was formed from the merger of Laird Brothers of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century. The company also built railway rolling stock until 1929, ...

in September 1979. In 1985–86 he struck up a successful partnership with fellow new signing Milton Graham at Chester City, with Kelly scoring eight times as Chester were promoted from

Division Four The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Whilst the division disappeared in name ...

. A year later he moved up to the second tier with

for £20,000, although he struggled to establish himself with the Wiltshire club and soon moved on to

. After spells with

and

, Kelly returned to Chester in the summer of 1992. Unfortunately, the 1992–93 season brought relegation to

Division Three The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the ...

and Kelly was released at the end of the campaign. This marked the end of his professional career and he went part-time by joining Welsh side

Rhyl Rhyl (; cy, Y Rhyl, ) is a seaside town and community (Wales), community in Denbighshire, Wales. The town lies within the Historic counties of Wales, historic boundaries of Flintshire (historic), Flintshire, on the north-east coast of Wales at ...

. Kelly made two appearances for the Republic of Ireland U21s, a nation he was eligible to represent as his father was born in Ireland.

Honours

Chester City *

runners-up: 1985–86

References

External links

John Kelly
at Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Transfer Database {{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, John 1960 births Living people People from Bebington Association football midfielders English footballers Republic of Ireland under-21 international footballers Republic of Ireland association footballers Cammell Laird 1907 F.C. players Tranmere Rovers F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Chester City F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players Walsall F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Rhyl F.C. players English Football League players English people of Irish descent