Liam Anthony Kelly (born 22 November 1995) is an Irish 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 lea ...

who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

EFL League Two The English Football League Two, simply known as League Two and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet League Two, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League Two is the fourth division of the English ...

club

Milton Keynes Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club, usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football leag ...

. He has represented the Republic of Ireland internationally at youth levels U19 and U21.

Club career

Reading

In November 2013, Kelly signed his first professional contract with

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

, In May 2016, Kelly signed a two-year contract with

. On 12 February 2016, Kelly joined Bath City on an initial one-month loan, extending it for another month on 11 March, before extending it till the end of the season 10 April 2016. Kelly made his debut for Reading on 23 August 2016 at home to

in the

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

, coming on for

George Evans George Evans may refer to: Arts and entertainment * George "Honey Boy" Evans (1870–1915), American songwriter and entertainer * George Evans (bandleader) (1915–1993), English jazz bandleader, arranger and tenor saxophonist * George Evans (sin ...

, with his league debut coming on 22 October 2016 away to

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional association football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The team plays in EFL League One, the third tier of English football, after suffering relegation fr ...

. On 30 December, Kelly signed a new contract, keeping him at Reading until the summer of 2019. He scored his first goal for Reading in a 3–2 win against

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

on 2 January 2017. Kelly extended his Reading contract on 6 July 2017, signing a new three-year deal.

Feyenoord

On 8 July 2019, Kelly signed for

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...

on a three-year contract for an undisclosed fee.

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club () is a professional association football, football club based in Oxford, England. The club compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football league system, English football. Founded as Headingto ...

signed Kelly on a loan deal until the end of the 2019–20 season on 8 January 2020. On 21 August 2020, Kelly's loan at the club was extended for another season.

Rochdale

On 24 August 2021, Kelly signed a two-year contract with

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

Crawley Town

On 22 June 2023,

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1896 as Crawley Foo ...

announced the signing of Kelly on a two-year contract. On 19 May 2024, Kelly scored the second goal, against

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, England. Its first team competes in League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' ...

, in the 2024 League Two play-off final at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

as Crawley won 2–0 to gain promotion to League One.

Milton Keynes Dons

On 4 July 2024, Kelly joined League Two club

for an undisclosed fee. He made his debut for the club on 10 August 2024 in a 1–2 home defeat to

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The club competes in , the third tier of English football, and is managed by Graham Alexander. The club was founded in 1903 and ...

. Kelly scored his first goal for the club on 19 October 2024, a long-range effort in a 3–1 away win over

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, England, on Morecambe Bay, part of the Irish Sea. In 2011 the parish had a population of 34,768. Name The first use of the name was by John Whit ...

International career

Kelly made his Republic of Ireland under-19 debut against Slovenia under-19 in September 2013. Whilst playing for the Republic of Ireland U19s against Sweden under-19, Kelly scored a wonder goal from the halfway line. Kelly made his Republic of Ireland under-21 debut against United States under-20 in November 2014. Kelly received his first call-up for the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

on 13 March 2017, being named in the 39-man provisional squad for the games against

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

and

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

. Kelly rejected a call-up to the Republic of Ireland senior squad in March 2018, for personal reasons.

Career statistics

Notes

Honours

Crawley Town *

EFL League Two play-offs The EFL League Two play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from fourth to seventh in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are part of the annual Engl ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Liam 1995 births Living people Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's youth international footballers Republic of Ireland men's under-21 international footballers English men's footballers English people of Irish descent Men's association football midfielders Reading F.C. players Bath City F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Feyenoord players Oxford United F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Footballers from Basingstoke Crawley Town F.C. players Milton Keynes Dons F.C. players 21st-century English sportsmen 21st-century Irish sportsmen