John Kelly ( – death unknown) was an English

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

and professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who played in the 1930s and 1940s. He played club level rugby union (RU) fo
Bramley Old Boys RUFC
as a Fullback and club level rugby league (RL) for

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

and St. Helens (one match when a man short) as a , or .

Leeds career

On Saturday 24 December 1938 Leeds played

Salford Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingley ...

. However, because the rugby pitch was frozen, the match was switched to the

cricket field A cricket field or cricket oval is a large grass field on which the game of cricket is played. Although generally oval in shape, there is a wide variety within this: perfect circles, elongated ovals, rounded rectangles, or irregular shapes with ...

Vic Hey Victor John Hey (18 November 1912 in Liverpool, New South Wales – 11 April 1995), also known by the nickname of "The Human Bullet", was an Australian rugby league national and state representative and later a successful first-grade and natio ...

scored the only try of the match, and Jack Kelly became the only player to ever kick a goal on the cricket pitch in a 5-0 win. He spent most of his career at Leeds behind

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...

"Charlie" Eaton for the position, but he still managed to play in 83 matches, mainly during the Emergency Leagues throughout World War II. On Saturday 6 December 1941 Leeds played St. Helens at

Headingley Stadium Headingley Stadium is a stadium complex in Headingley, Leeds, West Yorkshire, and England. Linked by a two-sided stand housing common facilities, it comprises two separate grounds: Headingley Cricket Ground (home of Yorkshire County Cricket Clu ...

, the St. Helens team was a man short, so Jack Kelly played as a stand-in for them.

Note

Someone named Jack Kelly played rugby league for Wests and

North Sydney North Sydney is a suburb and commercial district on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. And is the administrative centre for the local government area of North Sydney Council. History The Indigenous people on the s ...

during the 1920s and 1930s, and someone named J Kelly played rugby league for Newtown Bluebags during the 1940s; however, these footballers are unlikely to be this Jack Kelly.

References

External links

Search for "Kelly" at rugbyleagueproject.org
*(archived by web.archive.org
Profile at leedsrugby.dnsupdate.co.ukProfile at saints.org.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, John 1917 births English rugby league players English rugby union players Leeds Rhinos players Place of birth missing Place of death missing Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league players from Leeds Rugby union fullbacks Rugby union players from Leeds St Helens R.F.C. players Year of death missing 20th-century English sportsmen