Julian Kelly (born 6 September 1989) is an English

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 plays for Grantham Town.

Club career

Born in London, Kelly was with

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

until the age of 16 when he joined

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

as a scholar in June 2006. He finished the 2007–08 season with 27 appearances in the Reading reserves, playing in the position of

left back 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 ...

. He featured for Reading on the bench in their opening game of the 2008–09 season, which they drew 0 – 0 with

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

. He made his debut for Reading in the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

against

Dagenham & Redbridge Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club is a professional association football club based in Dagenham, Greater London, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Often known simply as Dag ...

. He then made his league debut against

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

, playing in the

right wing Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, authori ...

. On 21 January 2009, Reading manager

Steve Coppell Stephen James Coppell (born 9 July 1955) is an English professional football manager and former player. As a player, he was a highly regarded right winger known for his speed and work rate. He won domestic honours with Manchester United and rep ...

confirmed that his most likely replacement for the suspended

Liam Rosenior Liam James Rosenior (born 9 July 1984) is an English football manager and former player. He played either as a full-back or winger. He is the son of former player and manager Leroy Rosenior, and spent time on loan at Torquay United, where his f ...

against

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

would be Kelly. He joined

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their home ...

on an initial one-month emergency

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...

on 15 February 2010. On his debut for Wycombe Wanderers he scored from a cross for a 1–0 win over Millwall. In January 2011 Kelly joined Lincoln City on loan making his debut on 15 January in a 2–1 home defeat by

. On 1 June 2011, he signed a two-year contract with

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...

. Kelly scored his first goal for Notts, a thunderous volley, in 3 – 2 win over

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 ...

. Similarly in 3–2 win against

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The tea ...

Kelly scored the winning the goal after an incisive pass from teammate

Gavin Mahon Gavin Andrew Mahon (born 2 January 1977) is an English former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. Mahon started his career as a trainee at Wolverhampton Wanderers, although he did not make any first-team appearances f ...

. Kelly became a permanent fixture in Martin Allen's defence as Notts County climbed into the play-off positions midway through the season. In a 5–2 defeat to

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

, Kelly came off the bench to score Notts' second goal. Kelly finished the 2011–12 season making 34 appearances overall and scoring 3 goals. He made his first start of the 2012–13 campaign in a 2–1 win over

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

and made a further 23 appearances before being released at the end of the season. In September 2013 he joined

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in ...

on trial, but failed to earn a contract. After a year out of the game, Kelly joined

Northern Premier League Division One South The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Divisio ...

side Spalding United in May 2014. He was with the club only a short time before moving to divisional rivals Carlton Town. In October 2014 he was on the move again, moving up a division to join Grantham Town.

International career

Despite being born in England, he was called into the Republic of Ireland under-19 squad in January 2008.

Personal life

His brother Oliver Kelly was also part of the Reading Academy. Kelly's older sister Natalie has been playing the lead female role in the Lion King in the West End whilst younger sister Sienna recently won a place at the National School of Youth Ballet.

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Julian 1989 births Living people Footballers from the London Borough of Enfield English people of Irish descent English footballers Republic of Ireland association footballers Association football defenders Association football wingers Arsenal F.C. players Reading F.C. players Wycombe Wanderers F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Spalding United F.C. players Carlton Town F.C. players Grantham Town F.C. players English Football League players Northern Premier League players