Tony Kellow (1 May 1952 – 20 February 2011) was 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 ...

. He played as a forward and made over 400 Football League appearances in the 1970s and 1980s.Football League career stats at Neil Brown
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Early career

He was born in Budock Water, a village near Falmouth, and on leaving school he found employment in

Falmouth Docks Falmouth Docks are a deep-water docks of the town of Falmouth in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The docks are the southern shore of the Fal Estuary which is the third largest natural harbour in the world and the deepest in Europe. They ex ...

as an electrician, later turning out for the Falmouth Docks football side. At the age of seventeen he played in the

South Western Football League The South Western Football League was an English association football league composed of clubs from Cornwall and west and north Devon. It consisted of a single division at the eleventh overall tier of the English football league system, the seven ...

for Penzance, helping them win the

Cornwall Senior Cup The Cornwall County Football Association Senior Cup, commonly known as the Cornwall Senior Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football for clubs based in Cornwall, run by and named after the Cornwall County Football Association. It i ...

in 1973. He then moved to his home-town side Falmouth Town, before moving back to play for Penzance in 1974/75, winning a South Western League championship medal. In 1975, he returned to Falmouth Town.

Football League

A centre-forward, his professional career began when he signed for

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 ...

from Falmouth Town in 1976, for a fee of £12,000.A brief history of Falmouth Town AFC
Falmouth Town AFC Tony won the Football League's "Golden Boot" in 1980/81 for being the highest goal scorer in all four divisions. He was sold to Blackpool, in November 1978, for £125,000, which was Blackpool's record outlay at the time. He returned to Exeter for a second spell, and joined Plymouth Argyle in 1983. After 13 appearances with Plymouth he moved to Swansea City in March 1984. He then moved to Newport County, before a return for a third spell with Exeter.

Death

Kellow died on 20 February 2011, in Truro's Treliske Hospital of kidney failure after being found unconscious at his Budock Water home. He was 58 years old. His funeral service was held at St Budock Parish Church on 28 February 2011, and his body was then cremated at Truro's Penmount Crematorium. A memorial stone in honour of Kellow stands close to the Trelowarren Arms pub in Budock Water.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kellow, Tony 1952 births 2011 deaths People from Falmouth, Cornwall Footballers from Cornwall English footballers Association football forwards Penzance A.F.C. players Falmouth Town A.F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Swansea City A.F.C. players Newport County A.F.C. players English Football League players Exeter City F.C. non-playing staff