Jeremiah Kelly

Jeremiah Kelly
Personal information
Full name Jeremiah Kelly
Date of birth 25 July 1900
Place of birth Cambuslang, Scotland
Date of death 24 September 1962(1962-09-24) (aged 62)[1]
Place of death East Kilbride, Scotland
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[2]
Position(s) Right half
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
– Blantyre Victoria
1925–1927 Ayr United 68 (0)
1927–1930 Everton 81 (1)
1930–1931 Carlisle United 32 (0)
1931–1933 Dolphin (3)
1933 Rennes 1 (0)
1933–1934 Glentoran
1934–1935 Dunfermline Athletic 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Jeremiah Kelly (25 July 1900 – 24 September 1962) was a Scottish footballer who played as a right half.

Career

Kelly was born and spent his early years in the mining village of Newton (Cambuslang parish); by the time of the 1911 census his family had moved a short distance to the hamlet of Caldervale (Blantyre parish).[3] He began his career with local junior team Blantyre Victoria,[4] joining his first Scottish Football League club Ayr United in January 1925 at the age of 24 (however that may not have been what was provided to the club – it was fairly common for players of the time to 'adjust' their age down, and in articles covering Kelly's later transfers his actual age was three years older than reported).[2][5] He was unable to prevent the club's relegation from the top division in his first season, nor were the Honest Men (which at that time included some Scottish internationals in its ranks)[6] able to climb out of the lower tier before he moved on.[7]

Kelly switched to English football with Everton on 11 February 1927, making his debut in the Merseyside derby three days later.[2] The following season he had a major role in the Toffees winning the 1927–28 Football League title,[1] making 40 appearances and scoring one goal – a rare feat for him.[8] In August 1930, having not played in the first team at Goodison Park since the previous autumn and the club having been relegated, he signed for Carlisle United of the Football League Third Division North to be deployed at centre half.[5] He departed a year later (due to Carlisle being unable to pay any wages during the summer close season owing to their weak financial position)[9][1] and crossed the Irish Sea to play for and manage Dolphin,[10] leading them to the final of the FAI Cup in both 1931–32 and 1932–33, but losing to Shamrock Rovers on both occasions.

In 1933 he was invited to play for Rennes in France, their newly appointed player-manager at the time being former Ayr teammate Philip McCloy. However, both men only remained there for a matter of weeks: accounts of Kelly's debut performance against Montpellier were so poor that the directors decided to cancel his contract immediately, and McCloy also resigned in protest at this.[11] Kelly spent the next 16 months in Belfast playing for Glentoran, then returned to Scotland with Dunfermline Athletic, but this was short deal which involved only one league appearance.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c Car-Shares and Cemeteries: A Tribute to Jeremiah Kelly, EFC 1927-28, Tony I'Anson, ToffeeWeb, 10 May 2016
  2. ^ a b c J. Kelly Signs For Everton, The Liverpool Post and Mercury, 11 February 1927, via Everton Independent Research Data
  3. ^ Census returns - Census - Search results, ScotlandsPeople
  4. ^ Besides Jimmy Brownlie, There Were Others Scottish Junior Histories (page 31), 'Junior Veteran' / Mark Donnelly, Evening Times
  5. ^ a b Everton's Concern | Kelly-Carlisle, Liverpool Echo, 6 August 1930, via Everton Independent Research Data
  6. ^ The Years 1920 – 1930 Archived 2020-09-23 at the Wayback Machine, Ayr United FC
  7. ^ a b John Litster (October 2012). "A Record of pre-war Scottish League Players". Scottish Football Historian magazine. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  8. ^ Jeremiah Kelly, 11v11.com
  9. ^ History: Club historian attends commemorative ceremony, Carlisle United FC, 12 May 2016
  10. ^ Football League of the Irish Free State [1929-30-to-1938-39 goalscorers], Historical Lineups
  11. ^ Claude Loire (1994). Le Stade rennais, fleuron du football breton 1901-1991 [Stade Rennais, flagship of Breton football 1901-1991] (in French). Éditions Apogée. p. 168. ISBN 978-2-909275-40-6.