Lloyd Casius Kelly (born 6 October 1998) is 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 ...

who plays as a defender for club AFC Bournemouth. Mainly a centre-back, he can also play as a

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 ...

Club career

Bristol City

Kelly joined Bristol City at the age of 12 after he was spotted playing for local side Bristol Central. In 2015–16, he was included in City's pre-season squad that visited Portugal. On 8 August 2017, Kelly made his debut for Bristol City in a 5–0 victory against Plymouth Argyle in the EFL Cup. Kelly made his first league start on 23 December 2017 against

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

, and scored his first league goal against

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...

just three days later. At the end of the 2017–18 season, he was named the Senior Reds' Young Player of the Year. On 19 March 2018, he was named in the EFL "Team of the Week" for gameweek 38. He was praised for his 'maturity in defence' as well as providing the assist for the only goal of the game against

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

AFC Bournemouth

On 18 May 2019, Kelly signed for Premier League club AFC Bournemouth for an undisclosed fee, reported as £13 million, after eight years at Bristol City. He made his debut for Bournemouth in an EFL Cup tie against

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club moved its home grou ...

on 25 September 2019. His league debut followed in June 2020 when he played as a substitute 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 ...

. He scored his first goal for the club on 17 April 2021 in a 3–1 win against

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

. For the 2021–22 season, Kelly began to captain Bournemouth in the absence of club captain Steve Cook, beginning with the opening fixture of the campaign; a 2–2 home draw against

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...

. Kelly started the first 14 games of the season, playing a pivotal role in the Cherries' unbeaten start. This 14 game unbeaten run equalled a club record dating back to 1961. Kelly scored his first goal of the season in a 3–0 home win against

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. Th ...

. Kelly was later confirmed as the Cherries' club captain after the departure of previous captain Steve Cook.

International career

In August 2017, Kelly made his debut for

England U20 England national under-20 football team, also known as England Under-20s or England U20(s), represents England in association football at an under-20 age level and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in En ...

, coming on as a substitute in a 3–0 win over the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. On 12 November 2018, he received his first call-up to the under-21 side and made his debut as a third minute substitute during a 2–1 win over

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

in Ferrara on 15 November 2018. Kelly was a member of England's 23-man squad for the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship and

2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship The 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-21 Euro 2021) was the 23rd edition of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship (26th edition if the Under-23 era is also included), the biennial international youth football c ...

Personal life

Born in England, Kelly is of Jamaican descent. From the age of six, Kelly spent twelve years in

foster care Foster care is a system in which a minor has been placed into a ward, group home ( residential child care community, treatment center, etc.), or private home of a state-certified caregiver, referred to as a "foster parent" or with a family ...

alongside his siblings.

Career statistics

Honours

AFC Bournemouth *

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

runner-up: 2021–22 Individual * EFL Championship Team of the Season: 2021–22 * PFA Team of the Year: 2021–22 Championship

References

External links

Profile
at the AFC Bournemouth website {{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Lloyd 1998 births Living people Footballers from Bristol English men's footballers England men's youth international footballers England men's under-21 international footballers English people of Jamaican descent Sportspeople of Jamaican descent Black British sportsmen Men's association football central defenders Men's association football fullbacks Bristol City F.C. players AFC Bournemouth players English Football League players Premier League players