Richard Florence O'Kelly (born 8 January 1957) is an English former

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 ...

turned manager; whose most recent position was

Dean Smith Dean Edwards Smith (February 28, 1931 – February 7, 2015) was an American men's college basketball head coach. Called a "coaching legend" by the Basketball Hall of Fame, he coached for 36 years at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hi ...

's assistant head coach at

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

side

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

. He began his career at

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 ...

in 1979, as they won promotion into the

Third Division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

in 1979–80, where they remained for his next six seasons at

Fellows Park Fellows Park was a football stadium in Walsall, England. It was the home ground of Walsall F.C. from 1896 until 1990, when the team moved to the Bescot Stadium. Fellows Park was situated about a quarter of a mile away from the club's present ...

, during which time he scored 56 goals in 204 league games. He was sold on to

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

for a £6,000 fee in July 1986, before returning to Walsall on a free transfer January 1988. Helping the "Saddlers" to win promotion via the play-offs, he moved on to

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 ...

, before retiring due to injury the following year. After retiring due to injury in 1989 he took up coaching and has served as the assistant manager at

Hereford United Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'The ...

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...

, and

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

. He became a manager for the first time with Hereford United in March 2012, but quit the post two months later after the "Bulls" were relegated out of 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 ...

. He immediately returned to the number two role at former club Walsall, before following manager

to Brentford in November 2015.

Playing career

Walsall

O'Kelly started his career with

Alvechurch Alvechurch ( ) is a large village and civil parish in the Bromsgrove district in northeast Worcestershire, England, in the valley of the River Arrow. The Lickey Hills Country Park is 2.5 miles (4 km) to the northwest. It is south of Birmi ...

before moving into the

English 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 Engl ...

with

in 1979, after being signed by manager

Alan Buckley Alan Peter Buckley (born 20 April 1951) is an English former professional footballer and football manager who now works as a sports co-commentator for BBC Humberside. As a player, he was a forward from 1967 to 1987 for Nottingham Forest, Wa ...

. The "Saddlers" were promoted into the

Fourth Division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

as runners-up in 1979–80, two points behind champions

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 ...

. Walsall retained their third tier status in 1980–81 by finishing one place and one point above the drop zone. They came even closer to relegation in 1981–82, finishing ahead of relegated

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

on goal difference. They then improved, finishing tenth in 1982–83, before finishing sixth in 1983–84, eight points behind promoted

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 ...

. However Walsall dropped to eleventh in 1984–85, and O'Kelly was the club's top scorer with eighteen goals. They finished sixth in 1985–86, nine points behind promoted

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

. In his seven years at

he racked up over 200 appearances, with a goal rate of one goal every four games.

Port Vale

In July 1986, the cultured striker joined fellow

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

and Third Division side

for a £6,000 fee. His

Vale Park Vale Park is a football stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, England. It has been the home ground of Port Vale F.C. since 1950. The ground has seen its capacity go up and down, its peak being 42,000 in 1954 against Blackpool, although a club record 49, ...

career started with a bang as he scored on his debut in a 2–2 draw at

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

on 23 August 1986. After playing the next three matches he was struck down with an injury to his knee ligaments, which required an operation the following January. Sidelined for the rest of the 1986–87 season, he returned to the first team at the beginning of the 1987–88 season, and scored three goals in 22 appearances.

Return to Walsall

In January 1988,

John Rudge John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

allowed him to return to Walsall on a free transfer. The club won promotion at the end of the

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

season under

Tommy Coakley Thomas Coakley (born 21 May 1947) is a Scottish former football player and coach. Coakley, who played as a right winger, made 95 league appearances in a professional career which saw him play in Scotland, England, and the United States. After ret ...

's stewardship, beating

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

4–0 in the

play-off final The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

. He then joined former manager Alan Buckley at Fourth Division

, as the "Mariners" posted a ninth-place finish in 1988–89; O'Kelly finished his playing career in 1989 following a bad injury sustained playing for Grimsby in an encounter with

Management career

Coaching

After finishing his playing career, O'Kelly worked as Port Vale's community officer from August 1990 to May 1991 before returning to

Blundell Park Blundell Park is a football ground in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England and home to Grimsby Town Football Club. The stadium was built in 1899, but only one of the original stands remains. The current capacity of the ground is 9, ...

as a youth team coach. He left Grimsby for the same position at

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 pla ...

in 1994. He spent seven years at

The Hawthorns The Hawthorns is an all-seater association football, football stadium in West Bromwich, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England, with a capacity of 26,688. It has been the home of EFL Championship, Championship club West Bromwich Albion F ...

as youth team coach, and then six months at

, before joining

in 2002 as assistant manager to

Graham Turner Graham John Turner (born 5 October 1947) is an English former footballer who became a manager. His son Mark was also a professional footballer. He is third behind only Alex Ferguson and Arsène Wenger in terms of most games managed. After a ...

. He was appointed assistant manager of

in the summer of 2004 and two years later followed manager

Sean O'Driscoll Sean Michael O'Driscoll (born 1 July 1957) is a former professional footballer and manager. He has previously managed AFC Bournemouth, Doncaster Rovers, Crawley Town, Nottingham Forest, Bristol City and Walsall. He was known by the nickname "N ...

. Under the pair's first full season at Rovers the club gained

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

into the

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 ...

after winning the

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

play-off final in 2008 against

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...

. The pair were placed on 'gardening leave' by the club in September 2011, with Rovers sitting bottom of the Championship. In November 2011 he announced his return to

, coaching for the club on a voluntary basis.

Hereford United

On 5 March 2012, O'Kelly was appointed manager of

, replacing

Jamie Pitman Jamie Pitman (born 6 January 1976) is an English footballer turned football manager, who was the manager of Hereford United until 5 March 2012. Playing career He progressed through the youth system at Swindon Town, eventually making three lea ...

, who stayed on at

Edgar Street Edgar Street is a football stadium in Hereford and was the home of Hereford United Football Club from the club's formation in 1924 until December 2014, when the club was wound up. It is now the home of Hereford FC, a phoenix club formed to rep ...

as a coach. He took charge with the club two places and two points above the

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

relegation zone, and signed a contract until the end of the 2011–12 season. On taking charge he said "It's my first job as manager but what better team to start with. We've got 12 games to show and prove to people just what we can do." He got his first point in charge at the club the following day, when his side squandered a two-goal lead to draw 2–2 with

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an English professional association football, football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, that was liquidation, wound-up after a High Court of Justice, High Court ruling on 16 September 2020. Initially kno ...

Moss Rose Moss Rose, known as The Leasing.com Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Macclesfield, Cheshire, England, which is the home ground of Macclesfield F.C., and the former home of Macclesfield Town F.C., Macclesfield Town, a clu ...

. Four days later they beat

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. It is in Morecambe Bay on the Irish Sea. Name The first use of the name was by John Whitaker in his ''History of Manchester'' (1771), w ...

1–0 at the

Globe Arena Avicii Arena, originally known as Stockholm Globe Arena and previously as Ericsson Globe, but commonly referred to in Swedish simply as Globen (; "the Globe"), is an indoor arena located in Stockholm Globe City, Johanneshov district of Stockho ...

, further boosting their chances of survival. He later signed full-back James Chambers and winger James Baxendale on loan from

. To avoid relegation on the last day of the campaign, the "Bulls" needed to beat

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

and hope

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 groun ...

could avoid defeat at home to

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) * Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...

. Chairman David Keyte said that he should have appointed O'Kelly earlier in the season. His team won a futile 3–2 victory, as a win for Barnet sent Hereford back down to the

Conference A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main p ...

. He was asked to remain in charge for the subsequent Conference campaign, but declined the offer.

Return to coaching

In June 2012,

appointed O'Kelly as his assistant manager at League One side

. In accepting the job he turned down

's offer to join the coaching staff at

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The club was founded as Crawley Football Club in 1896, changed its name to Crawley Town Football Club in 1958. The team co ...

. However he went on to quit Walsall for

side

in January 2013, after O'Driscoll was appointed as the "Robins" new manager. Four months later he resigned, citing personal reasons. He made an immediate return to Walsall to once again work as Dean Smith's assistant. Once Smith was appointed as manager of Championship side

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

in November 2015, he immediately named O'Kelly as his assistant. O'Kelly went on to follow Smith to

in October 2018. The "Villans" went on to win promotion to the

with a 2–1 victory over Derby County in the 2019 EFL Championship play-off final. On 12 August 2021, Aston Villa announced O'Kelly's decision to leave his role there.

Career statistics

Playing statistics

Source: :A. The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals 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 ...

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...

Football League play-offs The English Football League play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the four association football teams finishing immediately below the automatic promotion places in the second, third and fourth tiers of the English football league ...

and

Full Members Cup The Full Members' Cup was an association football cup competition held in English football from 1985 to 1992. It was also known under its sponsored names of the Simod Cup from 1987 to 1989 and the Zenith Data Systems Cup from 1989 to 1992. The ...

Managerial statistics

Honours

Walsall *

Football League Fourth Division 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 ...

second-place promotion: 1979–80 *

Football League Third Division 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 f ...

play-offs:

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

References

External links

Profile
at the

League Managers Association The League Managers Association (LMA) is the trade union for Premier League, EFL and national team managers in English association football. The LMA awards the LMA Manager of the Year award annually. History The union was founded in 3045 as th ...