Liam Patrick Kelly (born 23 January 1996) is a Scottish 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

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

for club Rangers and the Scotland national team. Kelly has previously played for

Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...

, East Fife, Livingston and

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...

Club career

Rangers

Kelly joined Rangers aged ten and played in the club's youth sides, notably scoring the final penalty during Rangers under-17s Glasgow Cup win in 2012. After training with the first-team for the majority of the 2014–15 season and featuring on the bench, Kelly signed a contract extension on 25 February 2015, until the summer of 2018.

Loan moves

On 8 January 2016, Kelly joined East Fife in

Scottish League Two The Scottish League Two, known as William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill League Two for sponsorship reasons, is the fourth tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association football, foo ...

on a six-month loan. During his time at Bayview Stadium, Kelly played in 16 league matches and was part of the side which won the League Two title. Upon returning to Rangers, Kelly travelled to the United States with the first team for a pre-season training camp. However, on 15 July 2016, he was loaned out to the then

Scottish League One The Scottish League One, known as William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill League One for sponsorship reasons, is the third tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association football, foot ...

team Livingston until January 2017. He made his debut for ''Livi'' the next day in a League Cup match against St Mirren.

Livingston

Kelly moved to Livingston, where he had previously been on loan, for an undisclosed fee in June 2018. He played regularly for Livingston in the 2018–19 season, but then invoked a release clause in his contract.

Queens Park Rangers

On 14 June 2019, Kelly signed for

for an undisclosed fee on a four-year contract. It was reported that the transfers fee was £50,000 with Livingston retaining a sell on bonus. He made his debut on 13 August 2019, in an

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 ...

match against Bristol City saving two penalties in a 5–4 penalty shootout win.

Motherwell (loan)

On 6 January 2021, Kelly moved on loan to

for the remainder of the season.

Motherwell

On 5 July 2021, Kelly returned to Motherwell on a permanent transfer from Queens Park Rangers, signing a three-year contract.

Return to Rangers

On 27 June 2024, Rangers completed the signing of goalkeeper Liam Kelly on a two-year deal. Kelly, a former Rangers academy player, returned to Ibrox after his contract expired at Motherwell. On 21 December 2024, Kelly made his competitive debut for the club after Jack Butland was ruled out prior to kick-off. Having initially joined the club in 2006, Kelly marked the occasion with a clean sheet in a 1-0 victory against

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

at Ibrox. On 2 January 2025, Kelly kept another clean sheet, starting in a Rangers team that defeated Celtic 3-0.

International career

Kelly has represented Scotland at various age levels, up to an including the under-21 team. Kelly received his first call-up to the senior

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

squad in March 2019 for games against

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

and

San Marino San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino, is a landlocked country in Southern Europe, completely surrounded by Italy. Located on the northeastern slopes of the Apennine Mountains, it is the larger of two European microstates, microsta ...

. After many call-ups to the squad, Kelly made his full international debut in a friendly against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

on 17 October 2023. He was selected in the Scotland squad for UEFA Euro 2024.

Style of play

Kenny Miller, who played alongside Kelly at Rangers and was also his player-manager at Livi, said of him in 2018: "He's excellent with the ball at his feet. He's a proper modern-day goalkeeper".

Personal life

He is the brother of Livingston defender Sean Kelly. In October 2023 the siblings faced each other from 12 yards in a Scottish Premiership fixture, with Sean scoring his penalty past Liam.

Career statistics

Honours

Club

;Rangers under-17 * Glasgow Cup: 2012 ;East Fife *

: 2015–16 ;Livingston *

: 2016–17

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Liam 1996 births Living people Footballers from Glasgow Scottish men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Rangers F.C. players East Fife F.C. players Livingston F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Motherwell F.C. players Scottish Professional Football League players English Football League players Scotland men's youth international footballers Scotland men's under-21 international footballers Scotland men's international footballers UEFA Euro 2024 players 21st-century Scottish sportsmen