Antony Kay
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Antony Roland Kay (born 21 October 1982) is an English former
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 ...
and manager who most recently managed Runcorn Linnets. He 70 goals in 829 appearances during a 24-year playing career. Kay could play as a defender or 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 ...
. He began his career with hometown club
Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...
and made his first-team debut in August 2000. Established as a first-team regular by the age of 20, he was voted as the club's Player of the Season in 2003–04, and helped Barnsley to win
promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...
out of League One via the
play-offs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...
in
2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...
after scoring the winning
penalty Penalty, The Penalty, Penalization, Penalisation, Penalize or Penalise may refer to: Sports * Foul (sports) ** Penalty (golf) ** Penalty (gridiron football) ** Penalty (ice hockey) ** Penalty (rugby) ** Penalty (rugby union) ** Penalty kick (assoc ...
in the shoot-out victory over
Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club ( ; ) is a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales. It competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Swansea have played their home matches at ...
. He signed with
Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ...
in June 2007 and was voted the club's Player of the Season for 2008–09 before moving on to
Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...
in May 2009. He was again promoted into the
Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...
after victory in the 2012 League One play-off final. However, he stayed in League One after joining
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 ...
in August 2012 and won his third promotion out of the division after helping the club to secure a runners-up spot in 2014–15. He signed with Bury in June 2016 and played 47 matches as a club
captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...
before moving on to
Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in , the third tier of the English football league system. Vale are named after the valley of ports on the Trent and Mersey Canal ...
a year later. Released after two years in the Vale first-team, he went on to join
non-League Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...
Chorley Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth ca ...
in January 2020. He joined Cymru Premier side
Bala Town Bala Town Football Club () is a Welsh professional football club from Bala, Gwynedd, who play in the . They play their home games at Maes Tegid. History For a full history see; '' List of Bala Town FC seasons'' Although the current Bala Tow ...
eight months later and went on to play in the 2023
Welsh Cup The FAW Welsh Cup (), currently known as the JD Welsh Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out football competition contested annually by teams in the Welsh football league system. It is considered the most prestigious of the cup competitions ...
final before joining Runcorn Linnets in May 2023. He was appointed Runcorn's manager in May 2024.


Club career


Barnsley

Born in
Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...
, South Yorkshire, Kay began his career in the
youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team if they show en ...
at his hometown club
Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...
, signing a professional
contract A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typically involves consent to transfer of goods, services, money, or promise to transfer any of thos ...
in October 1999. He made his first-team debut under
Dave Bassett David Thomas Bassett (born 4 September 1944 in Stanmore) is an English football manager and a former player. Bassett won a total of seven promotions and is one of a select number of managers who took charge of over 1,000 matches. After a playi ...
on 12 August 2000, in a 1–0 victory over
Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...
at
Oakwell Oakwell is a multi-purpose sports ground in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England used by Barnsley Football Club for home fixtures, and those of their reserves. As of 2023, the Barnsley F.C. Women's team also play at the stadium. While the na ...
. He ended the 2000–01 season with seven
First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...
appearances to his name, and featured just once in the 2001–02
relegation Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...
campaign. Initially a midfielder, he was moved to
centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...
after Glyn Hodges took over from
Nigel Spackman Nigel James Spackman (born 2 December 1960) is a former professional footballer and English Manager (association football), football manager, and is a sports television pundit. As a player he was as a midfielder from 1980 to 1998, notably for Li ...
as
manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...
in October 2002. He played 16
Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...
matches in the 2002–03 season. He established himself as the club's utility player following the appointment of manager
Guðjón Þórðarson Guðjón Þórðarson (; born 14 September 1955), known in the United Kingdom as Gudjon Thordarson, is an Icelandic football manager and former player. He has previously been manager of Iceland, Icelandic clubs ÍA, KA, KR, Keflavík, BÍ/Bo ...
in June 2003, and in addition to operating across the defence and midfield was also utilised as a target man striker in January, picking up a man-of-the-match award in that role against
AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth ( ) is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. ...
. He scored four goals in 51 appearances across the 2003–04 campaign and was voted the club's Player of the Season. He signed a new one-year contract in June 2004. Speaking in December 2004, manager
Paul Hart Paul Anthony Hart (born 4 May 1953) is an English football manager, coach, and former professional player who made 567 appearances in the Football League as a defender. Hart was most recently assistant manager to Nathan Jones at Charlton ...
said that "it's slightly too early to say whether he'll stay as a centre-half or return to midfield in his career". Still, he was able to say that Kay had "shown that when he is concentrating he is as good as anybody" in both defence and midfield. He scored six goals from 43 appearances in the 2004–05 campaign as Barnsley posted a 13th-place finish. He played 45 times in the 2005–06 season and scored the fourth and final Barnsley penalty in the play-off final penalty shoot-out victory over
Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club ( ; ) is a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales. It competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Swansea have played their home matches at ...
at the
Millennium Stadium The Millennium Stadium (), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium () for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it has a retractable roof and is the home of the Wales national rugby union team; it has ...
, in which Andy Ritchie's "Tykes" gained
promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...
to the
Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...
. He played 33 matches in the 2006–07 season as Barnsley retained their second tier status with a 20th-place finish, but was rumoured to have had a bust-up with manager Simon Davey in February. His future with the club was put into doubt three months later after he allegedly broke club rules.


Tranmere Rovers

Kay signed a two-year contract with League One club
Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ...
in June 2007. He scored seven goals from 43 matches in the 2007–08 season, playing mainly in his natural position of centre-back, which led manager
Ronnie Moore Ronald David Moore (born 29 January 1953) is an English football manager and former player. He has taken charge of several clubs, including Rotherham United, Tranmere Rovers and Hartlepool United. He is currently the chief scout at Hartlepool ...
to consider playing him as a goalscoring midfielder. Moore shifted him forward into midfield during the 2008–09 season, and Kay went on to score 12 goals in 53 appearances as Tranmere narrowly missed out on the
play-offs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...
after conceding a late equaliser at
Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The club was formed in ...
on the final day of the season. Kay was voted as the club's Player of the Season for 2008–09.


Huddersfield Town

Kay joined League One club
Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...
on a two-year contract in May 2009; manager Lee Clark said that "he is a strong, physical player and we have identified that we need that presence in the side". He spent the 2009–10 season as a first-team regular in midfield, making 46 starts in league and cup competitions. Huddersfield qualified for the play-offs, and were knocked out by
Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Poplar, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east of ...
at the semi-final stage after losing 2–0 on aggregate. He was reduced to the role of substitute for parts of the
2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...
campaign. He did though score both the
extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...
equaliser and the winning penalty in the subsequent shoot-out victory over Bournemouth in the play-off semi-final second leg at the
Galpharm Stadium Kirklees Stadium, currently known as the John Smith's Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. Since 1994, it has been the home ground of Huddersfield Town Association Football Club ...
on 18 May. Eleven days later, Huddersfield went on to lose 3–0 to
Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Peterborough United formed in ...
in the play-off final at
Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...
. Kay signed a new two-year contract in July 2011. He was limited to 28 league matches in the 2011–12 season, and was not in the matchday squad as Town secured promotion with victory over
Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...
in the 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 ...
. Manager
Simon Grayson Simon Nicholas Grayson (born 16 December 1969) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Association football, player who is head coach of National League (division), National League club Hartlepool ...
signed centre-backs
Joel Lynch Joel John Lynch (born 3 October 1987) is a professional footballer who plays as a defender for UAE Second Division League club Precision. He previously played for Brighton & Hove Albion, Nottingham Forest, Huddersfield Town and Queens Park Ran ...
and
Anthony Gerrard Anthony Gerrard (born 6 February 1986) is a former professional footballer who played as a centre back. He made over 500 professional appearances in a career spent mainly in the English Football League, notably at Walsall where he won the 2006-0 ...
in the summer 2012 transfer window, and subsequently looked to move Kay on to a new club.


Milton Keynes Dons

Kay had his contract with Huddersfield cancelled by mutual consent and signed a two-year contract with League One 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 ...
in August 2012. He made 42 appearances across the
2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...
campaign as the Dons missed out on the play-offs after finishing two places and four points behind sixth-placed
Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...
. In September 2013, he underwent surgery to correct a persistent hip problem and was out of action for 12 weeks. He recovered to play a total of 34 matches by the end of the 2013–14 campaign. During this time, he also
sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...
three times. He signed a new one-year contract in May 2014, having helped
Karl Robinson Karl Joseph Robinson (born 13 September 1980) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Association football, player. He is currently head coach of club Salford City F.C., Salford City. Robinson be ...
's Dons to keep eight clean sheets in his 30 league matches on the way to a tenth-place finish. Kay missed just one of the club's 46 league matches in the 2014–15 season as the Dons secured promotion out of League One with a second-place finish behind champions
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 ...
. He signed a new one-year contract in June 2015. He played 34 Championship matches in the 2015–16 season as the Dons were relegated in 23rd-place. On 5 April, Kay made a late challenge on
Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...
striker Michał Żyro, which left Zyro suffering with multiple
knee In humans and other primates, the knee joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two joints: one between the femur and tibia (tibiofemoral joint), and one between the femur and patella (patellofemoral joint). It is the largest joint in the hu ...
ligament A ligament is a type of fibrous connective tissue in the body that connects bones to other bones. It also connects flight feathers to bones, in dinosaurs and birds. All 30,000 species of amniotes (land animals with internal bones) have liga ...
damage and over a year-long recovery. In May 2016, Kay was one of four players released from the club following relegation back into League One.


Bury

On 19 June 2016, Kay joined League One club Bury on a two-year contract. Six weeks later he was appointed as club
captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...
by manager
David Flitcroft David John Flitcroft (born 14 January 1974) is an English professional football manager and former player. His older brother is the former Blackburn Rovers and Manchester City player Garry Flitcroft. A midfielder, Flitcroft began his career a ...
. However, Bury endured a poor start to the season, leaving tensions high as Kay and teammate
Tom Soares Thomas James Soares (born 10 July 1986) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder. He has previously played for Crystal Palace, Stoke City, Bury, AFC Wimbledon and Stevenage. Career Crystal Palace Born in Reading, Berkshi ...
had to be separated from each other after exchanging heated words following a 5–1 defeat to
AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional association football club based in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton, London. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in ...
at the
Kingsmeadow Kingsmeadow is a football stadium in Norbiton, Kingston upon Thames, London, which is used for home matches by Chelsea Women and Chelsea Development Squad. It was formerly the home of Kingstonian and AFC Wimbledon and has a capacity of 4,85 ...
on 19 November. Bury's form did turn around over the new year though, and Kay praised manager
Chris Brass Christopher Paul Brass (born 24 July 1975) is an English football Manager (association football), manager and former professional Association football, player who works in a senior recruitment role at Premier League club Nottingham Forest F.C., ...
for changing to a 5–3–2 formation and halting a club record 12-match losing streak and 17-match winless run.


Port Vale

On 28 June 2017, Kay secured his release from Bury and signed a two-year contract with League Two club
Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in , the third tier of the English football league system. Vale are named after the valley of ports on the Trent and Mersey Canal ...
, who had been relegated after finishing two places and one point behind Bury the previous season. He was appointed as club captain by manager Michael Brown. He scored a headed goal on his debut for the "Valiants" in a 3–1 win at
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 ...
on 5 August. However, he was dropped by new manager
Neil Aspin Neil Aspin (born 12 April 1965) is an English association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player. A defender who could play at centre-back and right-back, he was a Marking (association football), marker an ...
in October, who also gave the captaincy to
Danny Pugh Daniel Adam Pugh (born 19 October 1982) is an English professional football coach and former footballer. A versatile player, he could play in midfield or at left-back. He began his career with Manchester United and made a handful of first-team ...
. Kay did though make a quick return to the first-team playing out-of-position in midfield. On 12 December, he scored the "goal of his life" with a stunning long-range
lob Lob may refer to: Sports * Lob (pickleball) * Lob (tennis) * Lob (association football), a lofted pass or shot in association football * Lob bowling, an archaic bowling style in cricket People * Lob Brown, American college football player * Löb ...
in a 3–2 defeat at
Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to: * Yeovil, a town in Somerset, England, with a council named Yeovil Town * Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset * Yeovil Town W.F.C., an English women's football team affiliated with Yeovil T ...
in the FA Cup. He maintained his new position as a holding central midfield player until the end of February when he was both suspended for picking up ten yellow cards over the campaign and also ruled out of action for a month after undergoing a
hernia A hernia (: hernias or herniae, from Latin, meaning 'rupture') is the abnormal exit of tissue or an organ (anatomy), organ, such as the bowel, through the wall of the cavity in which it normally resides. The term is also used for the normal Devel ...
operation. He marked his return from injury on 2 April by scoring what would go on to win him the club's goal of the season award, his long-range strike helping to secure a 2–2 draw at local rivals
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' ...
. Two weeks later he was named on the EFL team of the week for scoring the only goal of a 1–0 win over Lincoln City. Kay featured 33 times during the 2018–19 season; however, manager
John Askey John Colin Askey (born 4 November 1964) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the manager of club Truro City. Able to play as a winger or as a striker, Askey had pace and intelligence. A former youth team play ...
confirmed that he would not be offering Kay a new contract on 16 May.


Non-League

On 16 January 2020, Kay signed a deal to join
National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...
club
Chorley Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth ca ...
until the end of the 2019–20 season. He made four appearances for the "Magpies" in the 2019–20 season, which was permanently suspended on 26 March due to the
COVID-19 pandemic in England The COVID-19 pandemic was first confirmed to have spread to England with two cases among Chinese nationals staying in a hotel in York on 31 January 2020. The two main public bodies responsible for health in England were NHS England and Public ...
, with Chorley bottom of the table. On 24 August 2020, Kay joined
Cymru Premier The Cymru Premier, known as the JD Cymru Premier for sponsorship reasons, is the national football league of Wales. It has both professional and semi-professional status clubs and is at the top of the Welsh football league system. It was found ...
side
Bala Town Bala Town Football Club () is a Welsh professional football club from Bala, Gwynedd, who play in the . They play their home games at Maes Tegid. History For a full history see; '' List of Bala Town FC seasons'' Although the current Bala Tow ...
. He scored five goals from 28 appearances in the
2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...
season. He featured 26 times in the 2021–22 campaign and scored one goal in an 11–0 victory over
Penybont Penybont (also sometimes spelled Pen-y-Bont) is a small village and community in Radnorshire, Powys, Wales. The population of the community at the 2011 census was 428. The community includes the settlement of Llandegley. Amenities The vil ...
at
Maes Tegid Maes Tegid () is a community playing field in Bala, Wales. It is currently used mostly for football matches, and is the home ground of Bala Town (). The stadium holds 3,000 people, with 504 seats and has been used by Bala Town since the 1950s. ...
on the final day of the season as Bala secured runners-up spot in the league. He featured thirty times in the
2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...
campaign, including in the 6–0 defeat to
The New Saints The New Saints of Oswestry Town & Llansantffraid Football Club, commonly known as The New Saints () or TNS FC, are an English professional football club that play in the , but are based completely within England, in Oswestry, Shropshire. They a ...
in the final of the
Welsh Cup The FAW Welsh Cup (), currently known as the JD Welsh Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out football competition contested annually by teams in the Welsh football league system. It is considered the most prestigious of the cup competitions ...
. On 26 May 2023, at the age of 40, Kay signed with
Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English Association football, football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern Football League, Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English footba ...
Division One West club Runcorn Linnets; he was a former teammate of manager
Billy Paynter William Paul Paynter (born 13 July 1984) is an English football manager and former footballer who was most recently the manager of club Connah's Quay Nomads. In a 17-year professional career in the English Football League, he played as a strik ...
. He made 41 appearances in the 2023–24 campaign, scoring four goals, as Runcorn reached the play-off semi-finals, where they were beaten by City of Liverpool.


International career

Kay was
capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the e ...
once by the England national under-18 team, coming on as a substitute in a 0–0 draw with
Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
on 30 May 2001.


Style of play

Kay plays as a centre-back but can also operate as a holding
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 ...
; early in his career, he was something of a utility player, having also filled in at full back and as a striker on occasion. ''Bury Times'' journalist Mikael McKenzie stated that he is a solid all-round defender, is capable in the air and has good positional skills.


Management career

Kay was appointed as Runcorn Linnets's new manager on 18 May 2024, when he retired as a player. He was sacked on 30 January 2025 as the club's board felt there were a series of "disappointing results and performances".


Career statistics


Honours

Barnsley *
Football League One play-offs The EFL League One play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from third to sixth in the EFL League One table and are part of the English Football League play-offs. , the play-offs comprise tw ...
:
2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...
Milton Keynes Dons *
Football League One The English Football League One, known as Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons, or simply League One, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League One is the second-highest division of the English Football League an ...
second-place promotion: 2014–15 Bala Town *
Welsh Cup The FAW Welsh Cup (), currently known as the JD Welsh Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out football competition contested annually by teams in the Welsh football league system. It is considered the most prestigious of the cup competitions ...
runner-up:
2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...
Individual *
Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...
Player of the Season: 2003–04 *
Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ...
Player of the Season: 2008–09


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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kay, Antony 1982 births Living people Footballers from Barnsley English men's footballers England men's youth international footballers Men's association football defenders Men's association football midfielders Men's association football utility players Barnsley F.C. players Tranmere Rovers F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Milton Keynes Dons F.C. players Bury F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Chorley F.C. players Bala Town F.C. players Runcorn Linnets F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Cymru Premier players Northern Premier League players English football managers Northern Premier League managers 21st-century English sportsmen