David Kelly (association footballer)

Walsall

Kelly was diagnosed with Legg–Calvé–Perthes disease at the age of five, and at one stage his left leg was four inches shorter than the right leg, and he was on crutches until the age of ten. He played football for Bartley Green Boys regardless, and was attached to West Bromwich Albion before he was released by Albion, at which stage he worked as a trolley porter at Cadbury's whilst representing the youth team at non-league side Alvechurch. He joined Walsall following a successful trial in 1981, and turned professional at the club under Alan Buckley two years later. He scored three goals in six Third Division games in the 1983–84 season, before winning a regular first team place in the 1984–85 campaign, scoring 13 goals from 41 appearances. He provided ten goals from 28 league games in the 1985–86 campaign, before his career took off under new manager Tommy Coakley; he top-scored with 26 goals from 55 appearances as the "Saddlers" posted an eighth-place finish in 1986–87, and was named in the Third Division PFA Team of the Year. He then scored 30 goals from 54 matches in the 1987–88 season as Walsall won promotion via the play-offs in 1988; he scored a hat-trick in the replay of the 1988 play-off final as Walsall beat Bristol City to achieve promotion. He went on to have a week-long trial at Bayern Munich, but did not join the club despite Uli Hoeneß reportedly comparing him to Denis Law. He scored a total of 82 goals in 190 league and cup appearances over the course of five seasons at Fellows Park, and the transfer fee received for him remains a club record.

West Ham United

His exploits attracted the attention of West Ham United, who signed him for a fee of £600,000 in August 1988. His stay at the Boleyn Ground proved to be largely unsuccessful however, as he scored only six goals in 25 First Division games as John Lyall's "Hammers" suffered relegation in 1988–89. Kelly also failed to find form for the club under new boss Lou Macari in the Second Division, scoring just two goals in 24 matches of the 1989–90 campaign.

Leicester City

Kelly was sold to David Pleat's Leicester City for a fee of £300,000 in March 1990. He recaptured his form at Filbert Street, scoring seven goals from just ten games in the latter stages of the 1989–90 season. He then top-scored with 15 goals from 48 games to help new "Foxes" boss Gordon Lee avoid relegation out of the Second Division in 1990–91. They mounted a challenge for promotion under the stewardship of Brian Little in 1991–92, though Kelly would leave the club midway through the season.

Newcastle United

Kelly was signed to Second Division Newcastle United in December 1991 after manager Osvaldo Ardiles agreed a fee of £250,000. He scored 11 league goals for the "Magpies", including the winning goal over Tyne–Wear derby rivals Sunderland, as they avoided relegation in 1991–92. He was then the club's top-scorer with 28 goals from 57 games as Kevin Keegan steered Newcastle to promotion into the Premier League as champions of the First Division. In his final game for United, on the last day of the season against his old club Leicester City, Kelly and new strike-partner Andy Cole both scored hat-tricks in a 7–1 win at St James' Park. He was named as Newcastle United's Player of the Year, but was allowed to leave the club due to the return of Peter Beardsley. Kelly remained a highly popular figure at Newcastle, even commanding a standing ovation upon returning to St James' Park in Sunderland colours.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Kelly did not make the move back to the top-flight with Newcastle as he was transferred to First Division side Wolverhampton Wanderers in June 1993 after manager Graham Turner paid £750,000 to secure his services. He hit 14 goals from 44 games in the 1993–94 season, as Wolves posted an eighth-place finish. New manager Graham Taylor then took Wolves to fourth place in 1994–95, with Kelly top-scoring with 22 goals in 54 appearances, breaking Steve Bull's run of eight consecutive seasons as Wolves's top-scorer. However, he lost his first team place at Molineux to Don Goodman early in the 1995–96 season and requested a transfer.

Sunderland

He signed for Sunderland in a £1million deal, and scored two goals in ten league matches as manager Peter Reid led the "Black Cats" to promotion into the Premier League as champions of the First Division in 1995–96. He remained a regular player at Roker Park in the 1996–97 campaign but failed to score a single goal all season, often being used as a midfielder rather than a striker.

Tranmere Rovers

Kelly returned to the First Division after securing a £350,000 move to Tranmere Rovers in the summer of 1997. John Aldridge's "Superwhites" managed to secure mid-table finishes in his three seasons at Prenton Park, as he scored 14 goals from 37 games in 1997–98, six goals from 29 matches in 1998–99, and 15 goals from 46 appearances in 1999–2000. He featured prominently in the club's run to the 2000 League Cup Final, and scored the consolation goal in a 2–1 to former club Leicester City at Wembley Stadium.

Later career

Kelly moved to Neil Warnock's Sheffield United on a free transfer at the start of the 2000–01 season. However his one season at Bramall Lane was not a success, as he scored just six goals in 35 league games. In June 2001, he turned down a coaching role at United and instead signed a two-year contract with Billy Davies's Motherwell in the Scottish Premier League. However, he was sacked on 15 January 2002 following a bust-up with new manager Eric Black. Two weeks later he accepted an offer of a three-month contract to return to the English league in the Third Division with Mansfield Town. He scored four goals in 17 games as Stuart Watkiss's "Stags" leapfrogged Cheltenham Town in the race for the final automatic promotion place. Kelly left Field Mill after being released in April 2002. He went on to train with Telford United, but rejected the club's offer of a contract. He went on to cross the Irish Sea to join Derry City in July 2002. In his final game of professional football, Kelly helped the "Candystripes" to a 1–0 victory over Shamrock Rovers in the 2002 FAI Cup final.

Kelly was born in England but was eligible to play for the Republic of Ireland because his father was born in Dublin. He scored a hat-trick on his debut in a 5–0 win over Israel at Lansdowne Road on 10 November 1987, becoming only the fifth player to score a hat-trick for the Republic of Ireland. He went on to score nine goals from 26 international caps, and was selected by manager Jack Charlton in the squads for UEFA Euro 1988, the 1990 FIFA World Cup, and the 1994 FIFA World Cup. He also scored against England in what became known as the Lansdowne Road football riot on 15 February 1995, which was abandoned due to rioting by Combat 18. He was unable to play in the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification play-off fixture with Belgium after picking up an ankle injury. Belgium won 3–2 on aggregate, and Kelly never represented Ireland again.

After retiring as a footballer, Kelly was appointed as assistant manager to Ray Mathias at Tranmere Rovers in October 2002. He walked out on the club to work as Neil Warnock's assistant at Sheffield United in July 2003, to which Tranmere responded by threatening legal action; United had made a formal approach to Tranmere, but Kelly resigned after Tranmere rejected the approach. He was announced as Billy Davies's assistant at Preston North End in September 2004. He remained at Deepdale after Davies was sacked and replaced by Paul Simpson in June 2006. He was named as assistant manager to Davies at Derby County in July 2007, a few weeks after the club achieved promotion to the Premier League. He left the club just four months later when Davies left the club by mutual consent following a disastrous start to the 2007–08 season.

Kelly followed Davies to Nottingham Forest, again being named as assistant manager in January 2009. He took charge of one game in October 2010 after Davies was absent due to illness. He left Forest along with Davies in June 2011. He returned to former club Walsall as Dean Smith's assistant in January 2013. However, he left the club after just nine days to assist Billy Davies, who had just been re-appointed as Nottingham Forest manager. He and Davies were sacked by Forest in March 2014, and he settled out of court with the club over alleged unpaid bonuses and for breach of contract. After taking charge at Scunthorpe United in October 2014, Mark Robins appointed Kelly as his assistant. The pair were sacked in January 2016. He was brought in to assist caretaker-manager Michael Brown at Port Vale in December 2016.

Kelly has been named in Show Racism the Red Card's Hall of Fame.

Club statistics

International statistics

• PFA Team of the Year (Third Division): 1986–87
• Newcastle United F.C. Player of the Year: 1992–93

• Football League Third Division play-off winner: 1988

• Football League First Division champion: 1992–93

• Football League First Division champion: 1995–96

• Football League Cup runner-up: 2000

• FAI Cup winner: 2002