Theo Kelly (17 January 1896 – 30 April 1964) was manager of

Everton Football Club Everton Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Liverpool that competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club was a founder member of the Football League in 1888 and has compe ...

from 1939 to 1948.

Biography

Theo Kelly was born Louis Alford Theodore Kelly in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, on 17 January 1896. His father, Louis Theophilus Kelly, was Manx. His mother, Lilian Mabel May, was Cornish. Theo Kelly married Emily Gladys Wilson at Walton Methodist Chapel, County Road, Liverpool in 1925. He joined

Everton F.C. Everton Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Liverpool that competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club was a founder member of the Football League in 1888 and has compe ...

as a coach in 1929. He is best known for being the first manager of

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Ancestry
Lancashire BMD

Pre-war

Everton were one of the last league teams to appoint a manager. Before this, the team selection was made by coaches and boardroom members. Theo Kelly had been club secretary before his appointment as manager in May 1939 and had been closely involved in team matters, so there is some dispute when he actually took over. Kelly was ambitious and a self-publicist, manoeuvring himself into the position after the untimely death of his successful predecessor, Thomas H. McIntosh. While he was club secretary Theo Kelly devised the club badge and motto. The

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

of 1938-39 had already been won by Everton by the time that Kelly was appointed as full-time manager. The League was then suspended for seven seasons during the war though some matches were played with Kelly in charge.

Post-war

After the war Kelly disagreed with

Joe Mercer Joseph Mercer, OBE (9 August 1914 – 9 August 1990) was an English football player and manager. Mercer, who played as a defender for Everton and Arsenal in his footballing career, also went on to manage Aston Villa, Manchester City and Engl ...

. Kelly accused Mercer of not trying in an international against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, but in reality Mercer had sustained a severe cartilage injury. Even after consulting an orthopaedic specialist, Kelly refused to believe him and Mercer had to pay for the surgery himself (after 14 years with the club). Understandably upset, Mercer moved in 1946 for £9,000 to

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 ...

, although he commuted from

. Theo Kelly brought Mercer's boots to the transfer negotiations to prevent Mercer having a reason to go back to say goodbye to the other players at Everton. Kelly was also unable to persuade

Tommy Lawton Thomas Lawton (6 October 1919 – 6 November 1996) was an English football player and manager. A strong centre-forward with excellent all-round attacking skills, he was able to head the ball with tremendous power and accuracy. Born in Fa ...

to stay and he attempted to sell

T. G. Jones Thomas George Jones (12 October 1917 – 3 January 2004) was a Welsh footballer most notable for his career with Everton and Wales. Biography Born in Queensferry and raised in Connah's Quay, Tommy (T.G.) Jones started his professional caree ...

A.S. Roma ' (''Rome Sport Association''), commonly referred to as Roma (), is a professional football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its existence, except for ...

to raise £15,000, but exchange control prevented the transfer. Many players saw Kelly as a remote, autocratic and petty figure.

Dixie Dean William Ralph "Dixie" Dean (22 January 1907 – 1 March 1980) was an English footballer who played as a centre forward. He is regarded as one of the greatest centre-forwards of all time and was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in ...

said that the main reason for leaving Everton in 1937 was Theo Kelly. Kelly distrusted players bought on the transfer market and so the playing resources were quickly depleted. After two poor seasons (finishing 10th and 14th) and a poor start to the 1948-49 season in which Everton finished 18th, Kelly resigned as manager in September 1948 and reverted to being club secretary.

Cliff Britton Clifford Samuel Britton (29 August 1909 – 1 December 1975) was an English football player and manager. Playing career After playing amateur football for a number of teams in the Bristol area, his professional playing career began when he sig ...

replaced him as manager, though relegation in 1950/51 can be partly traced back to Kelly's period as manager. Kelly was better known for his administrative skills and to his credit he left the club in a better financial state.

References

* Corbett, James (2003); ''Everton:School of Science'' publ by MacMillan {{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Theo Everton F.C. managers 1896 births 1964 deaths English people of Manx descent English people of Cornish descent English football managers