Paul Kelly (born May 1, 1974, in Springfield, Massachusetts) is a former American professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

defender.

College

Kelly attended the University of Maine at Orono, playing on the men's soccer team from 1992 to 1995. He was a 1994 and 1995 Regional All American; 1992, 1994 and 1995 All North Atlantic Conference. In 1995, he played for the East team in the US Olympic Festival held in San Antonio, Texas.

Club

After college, Kelly played for the Luso American Soccer Association (LASA) team, Academica de Fall River. That summer, Academica won both the league and SuperCup titles. Kelly scored the game-winning goal in Academica's victory over the Dynamo Brava in the SuperCup final. In 1997, Paul then trained with the New England Revolution of

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

before moving to the USL to play for the New Hampshire Phantoms. The team advanced to the 1997 National Final Four in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Phantoms fell in overtime to the Albuquerque Geckos in the semi-final. In 1998, Kelly moved to the A-League, playing for legendary player/coach John Kerr Jr. He started every game for the Worcester Wildfire. That year the Wildfire fell in penalty kicks to the Tampa Bay Mutiny in the US Open Cup. In 1999, Kelly signed with the newly formed Western Mass Pioneers of the USL. He served as team captain as the Pioneers captured the

1999 USISL D-3 Pro League The 1999 USL D3 Pro League was the 13th season of third-division soccer in the United States, and was the third season of now-defunct USL D3 Pro League, and its first since the name change to United Soccer League. League standings Playoffs Fi ...

title. Kelly was named to the D-3 Pro League First Team All Star team and was invited to the Major League Soccer combine in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Kelly returned to Western Mass for the 2002 season. This year the team lost in the Northeast Conference title game to the Connecticut Wolves despite winning the 2 match aggregate 4–3.

Honors

:2 time Regional All-American - '94 & '95 :3 time All NAC Conference - '92, '94, '95 :US Olympic Festival San Antonio, TX -1995 :LASA All Star - 1996 Club Academica :USL All Star - 1999 Western Mass Pioneers :Captain USL National Champions - 1999 :MLS Draft/Combine, Umbro Classic - 2000

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Paul 1974 births Living people American men's soccer players Western Mass Pioneers Maine Black Bears men's soccer players Seacoast United Phantoms players Worcester Wildfire players Men's association football defenders