Thomas John Kelly (born 28 March 1964) is a Scottish former professional footballer. Kelly began his professional career when he joined Hibernian from Scottish non-league sid
Gartcosh United
He subsequently moved on to Partick Thistle and Queen of the South before joining

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded i ...

on a free transfer in August 1985. He played 15 times the following season, but was released and joined

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 ...

in July 1986. The following season saw Torquay involved in a battle to avoid being the first side to suffer automatic relegation 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 ...

, Kelly playing in the final game of the season against

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 ...

in which Paul Dobson's late goal saw Lincoln City relegated. He had begun his Plainmoor career as a midfielder, but switched to left-back after the sale of Phil King to

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional 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 the County Ground sin ...

Cyril Knowles Cyril Barry Knowles (13 July 1944 – 30 August 1991) was a footballer who played left-back for Tottenham Hotspur and England. He was the son of the rugby league footballer; Cyril Knowles, and the older brother of fellow professional footballe ...

took over as Torquay manager in the summer and transformed the side into one battling for promotion. Kelly played 120 times for the Gulls before moving to

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...

on a free transfer in June 1989. He immediately became a regular in the York side, but in March 1990 moved back to

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, joining

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

for a fee of £15,000. He played 88 times, scoring 9 goals, for the Grecians, winning a

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 ...

championship medal in 1990, before returning to Torquay United on a free transfer in January 1993 and playing his part in another of Torquay's escapes from relegation to the Conference that season. He played 117 times, scoring 8 goals in his second spell with the Gulls before being released by

Eddie May Edwin Charles May (19 May 1943 – 14 April 2012) was an English football player and manager. May was born in Epping, and played for Dagenham, Southend United, Wrexham and Swansea City. The burly, affable May loomed large in the modern hist ...

at the end of the 1995–96 season. He moved to non-league Weymouth, before moving to Teignmouth from whom he joined Ilfracombe Town. Kelly left Ilfracombe in November 1997 to join

Taunton Town Taunton Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Taunton, Somerset. They compete in the , the sixth tier of English football and play their home matches at Wordsworth Drive, which they moved into during the 1953 season. ...

, managed by former Torquay teammate

Russell Musker Russell Musker (born 10 July 1962) is an English former footballer who played for Bristol City, Exeter City, Gillingham, Torquay United and Walsall between 1980 and 1992, making over 180 appearances in the Football League, before embarking on a ...

. He quickly settled into the side and was appointed captain, taking over as player-coach when previous assistant manager Derek Fowler stepped down in September 2000. At the end of that season he played in Taunton's 2-1

FA Vase The Football Association Challenge Vase, usually referred to as the FA Vase, is an annual football competition for teams playing in Steps 5 and 6 of the English National League System (or equivalently, tier 9 or 10 of the overall English footbal ...

Final win over Berkhamsted Town at

Villa Park Villa Park is a football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, England, with a seating capacity of 42,682. It has been the home of Premier League side Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witton and Aston railway station ...

. In January 2004 Kelly moved to

Bideford Bideford ( ) is a historic port town on the estuary of the River Torridge in north Devon, south-west England. It is the main town of the Torridge local government district. Toponymy In ancient records Bideford is recorded as ''Bedeford'', ''By ...

, managed by another former Torquay colleague,

Sean William Joyce Sean William Joyce (born 15 February 1967 in Conisbrough, Yorkshire) is an English former professional footballer who made 200 appearances in the Football League playing for Doncaster Rovers, Exeter City and Torquay United. Since 1998 he has ...

. He remained with Bideford until the summer of 2006 when he joined Bridgwater Town, where he played alongside his son Cameron, a midfielder. In March 2007, Kelly joined Devon League side

Stoke Gabriel Stoke Gabriel is a village and parish in Devon, England, situated on a creek of the River Dart. The village is a popular tourist destination in the South Hams and is famous for its mill pond and crab fishing (known colloquially as ''crabbing'') ...

and by 2009 he was player-manager of

Bovey Tracey Bovey Tracey () is a small town and civil parish in Devon, England, on the edge of Dartmoor, its proximity to which gives rise to the "slogan" used on the town's boundary signs, "The Gateway to the Moor". It is often known locally as "Bovey". ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Tom 1964 births Living people Footballers from Bellshill Scottish men's footballers English Football League players Hibernian F.C. players Partick Thistle F.C. players Queen of the South F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players York City F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players Weymouth F.C. players Ilfracombe Town A.F.C. players Taunton Town F.C. players Bideford A.F.C. players Bridgwater United F.C. players Stoke Gabriel & Torbay Police F.C. players Bovey Tracey A.F.C. players Scottish football managers Bovey Tracey A.F.C. managers Men's association football fullbacks