Caoimhín Odhrán Kelleher ( ; born 23 November 1998) 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

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

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

and the Republic of Ireland national team.

Early life

Caoimhín Odhrán Kelleher was born on 23 November 1998 in

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

, County Cork, where he attended Presentation Brothers College.

Club career

Liverpool

Kelleher began his career with Rockmount A.F.C. before joining Ringmahon Rangers. He joined Liverpool's academy in summer 2015. He featured regularly for Liverpool's side during their pre-season programme of 2018 and was part of the squad that travelled to the United States for Liverpool's summer tour. In August 2018, he signed a new contract with Liverpool. He was an unused substitute for the

2019 UEFA Champions League final The 2019 UEFA Champions League final was the final match of the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League, the 64th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA and the 27th season since it was rebranded the UEFA Champions League. ...

against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

. In winning the Champions League, he became the 12th Irish footballer to do so and the first for over a decade. Though he was recovering from wrist surgery, Kelleher was on the bench for Liverpool's victory in the

2019 UEFA Super Cup The 2019 UEFA Super Cup was the 44th edition of the UEFA Super Cup, an annual football match organised by UEFA and contested by the reigning champions of the two main European club competitions, the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa Leag ...

against Chelsea in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

due to the absence of first-choice Alisson. He made his competitive debut for the club on 25 September 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 ...

Third Round match, keeping a clean sheet against League One side

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 a 2–0 away win. On 1 December 2020, Kelleher started and kept a

clean sheet In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usually seen as a result of ...

in a 1–0 victory against

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

in the Champions League. Five days later, Kelleher was named in the starting line-up for a

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

match against

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 ...

. He kept a clean sheet in the match, a 4–0 win, which was his third consecutive shutout for the club. At 22 years and 13 days, Kelleher became the third-youngest Liverpool goalkeeper to keep a Premier League clean sheet and the youngest to do so on his first league start. After several strong performances, manager

Jürgen Klopp Jürgen Norbert Klopp (; born 16 June 1967) is a German football executive and former Manager (association football), manager and Football player, player. He is widely regarded as one of the best football managers in the world. Klopp has been ...

confirmed that Kelleher had been promoted to second choice, behind Alisson and ahead of Adrián. It was also reported that Liverpool were seeking to sign Kelleher to a new long-term contract on improved terms. Kelleher signed a new long-term deal with Liverpool on 24 June 2021, to last until 2026. He said "For me, it was a positive moment to commit my future to the club for the next few years. It's such a big club and it's an honour to be a part of it, so when I got the chance to sign for a few more years I was obviously delighted." On 27 February 2022, Kelleher started in the 2022 EFL Cup final and scored the decisive penalty in the 11–10 penalty shoot-out win against Chelsea. Kelleher made his first start of the 2022–23 season on 9 November 2022 and saved three penalties in a 3–2 penalty shoot-out win against

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

in the third round of the

2022–23 EFL Cup The 2022–23 EFL Cup was the 63rd season of the EFL Cup (known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons). The competition was open to all clubs participating in the Premier League and the English Football League. The winner of the competiti ...

at Anfield. With the result, he saved a total of six penalties in four shootouts for Liverpool, breaking

Pepe Reina José Manuel "Pepe" Reina Páez (; born 31 August 1982) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. The son of famed Barcelona and Atlético Madrid goalkeeper Miguel Reina, Pepe Reina began his career with the Barce ...

's record of five saves. Four of his eight appearances in the EFL Cup had gone to penalties, with Liverpool winning all of them. On 1 June 2023, Republic of Ireland national team boss Stephen Kenny said he expected Kelleher to leave Liverpool because he had been given so few opportunities to play. "He has been starved of games this year and that has been a problem for him", Kenny said. On 27 September, Kelleher played in the 3–1 win against

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

in the

2023–24 EFL Cup The 2023–24 EFL Cup was the 64th season of the EFL Cup (known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons). The competition was open to all clubs participating in the Premier League and the English Football League. The winner of the competitio ...

and wore the captain's armband for the last 12 minutes of the game when stand-in captain Curtis Jones was substituted. Kelleher started in the

2024 EFL Cup final The 2024 EFL Cup final was the final match of the 2023–24 EFL Cup. It was played between Chelsea F.C., Chelsea and Liverpool F.C., Liverpool, in a repeat of the 2022 EFL Cup final, 2022 final, at Wembley Stadium in London, England, on 25 Februa ...

at Wembley, in which a

Virgil van Dijk Virgil van Dijk (; born 8 July 1991) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for and captains both club Liverpool and the Netherlands national team. Widely regarded as one of the best defenders of his generation and ...

header in the 118th minute secured the trophy against Chelsea and Kelleher keeping a clean sheet with several reflex saves throughout the match. Following an injury to Alisson in October 2024, Kelleher played several matches including a home tie with

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

in the Champions League. He saved a penalty in the match from

Kylian Mbappé Kylian Mbappé Lottin (born 20 December 1998) is a French professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for club Real Madrid CF, Real Madrid and Captain (association football), captains ...

to maintain Liverpool's lead in the 2–0 home win. The penalty save, coupled with another penalty save earlier against

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

in the

, was the first time a goalkeeper made two consecutive penalty saves for Liverpool.

Brentford

On 3 June 2025, Kelleher joined fellow Premier League side

, signing a five-year contract with the club with the option of a twelve-month extension. Although the official fee was undisclosed, it was reported to be £12.5 million, with add-ons which could take the fee to £18 million.

International career

Kelleher featured for the Republic of Ireland U17s in the

2015 UEFA European Under-17 Championship The 2015 UEFA European Under-17 Championship was the 14th edition of the UEFA European Under-17 Championship (33rd edition if the Under-16 era was also included), the annual European youth football competition contested by the men's under-17 nation ...

. He was capped by his country at under-17 level in 2014, making his debut against Malta. He has also been capped at under-19 and under-21 level. Kelleher was named in the senior

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. ...

squad for the first time on 6 November 2018, for the

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

against

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

and the

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is an international European football competition played by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The competition was devised to minimise friendlies a ...

match against

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

later in the month. On 8 June 2021, Kelleher made his senior Ireland debut, coming on as a half-time substitute against

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

in a 0–0 draw. On 14 November 2024, Kelleher saved Joel Pohjanpalo's penalty in the 77th minute in Ireland's Nations League qualifying game against

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

which led them to a third-place playoff spot in the competition.

Personal life

Kelleher's older brother Fiacre is also a footballer. He has three other older brothers who played

hurling Hurling (, ') is an outdoor Team sport, team game of ancient Gaelic culture, Gaelic Irish origin, played by men and women. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goa ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Liverpool *

: 2024–25 *

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

: 2018–19; runner-up: 2021–22 *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

: 2021–22 *

: 2021–22, 2023–24; runner-up: 2024–25 *

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup Association football, football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions: the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's offic ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

References

External links

Profile
at the Brentford F.C. website
Profile
at the Liverpool F.C. website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kelleher, Caoimhin 1998 births Living people Association footballers from Cork (city) Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Rockmount A.F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Liverpool F.C. players Premier League players UEFA Champions League–winning players Republic of Ireland men's youth international footballers Republic of Ireland men's under-21 international footballers Republic of Ireland men's international footballers Republic of Ireland expatriate men's association footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Irish expatriate sportspeople in England People educated at Presentation Brothers College, Cork 21st-century Irish sportsmen