Jeremiah Kelly (25 July 1900 – 24 September 1962) was a Scottish

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 played as a

right half In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

Career

Kelly was born and spent his early years in the mining village of

Newton Newton most commonly refers to: * Isaac Newton (1642–1726/1727), English scientist * Newton (unit), SI unit of force named after Isaac Newton Newton may also refer to: People * Newton (surname), including a list of people with the surname * ...

(

Cambuslang Cambuslang (, from ) is a town on the south-eastern outskirts of Greater Glasgow, Scotland. With approximately 30,000 residents, it is the 27th-largest town in Scotland by population, although, never having had a town hall, it may also be cons ...

parish); by the time of the 1911 census his family had moved a short distance to the hamlet of Caldervale (

Blantyre Blantyre is Malawi's centre of finance and commerce, and its second largest city, with a population of 800,264 . It is sometimes referred to as the commercial and industrial capital of Malawi as opposed to the political capital, Lilongwe. It is ...

parish). He began his career with local

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr., ...

team

Blantyre Victoria Blantyre Victoria Football Club, also known as Blantyre Vics, are a Scottish association football club based in the town of Blantyre, South Lanarkshire. Formed in 1889, they play at KG Stadium (traditionally known as Castle Park). They currently ...

, joining his first

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) is a defunct league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4&nbs ...

club

Ayr United Ayr United Football Club are a football club in Ayr, Scotland, who play in the , the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League. Formed in 1910 by the merger of Ayr Parkhouse and Ayr F.C., their nickname is The Honest Men, fro ...

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). 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) able to climb out of the lower tier before he moved on. Kelly switched to English football with Everton on 11 February 1927, making his debut in the

Merseyside derby The Merseyside derby is an association football match between Everton F.C., Everton and Liverpool F.C., Liverpool, two clubs based in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is the longest running top-flight local derby, derby in England, with its fi ...

three days later.J. Kelly Signs For Everton
The Liverpool Post and Mercury, 11 February 1927, via Everton Independent Research Data The following season he had a major role in the ''Toffees'' winning the

1927–28 Football League The 1927– 28 season was the 36th season of The Football League. Final league tables The tables and results below are reproduced here in the exact form that they can be found aThe Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundationwebsite and in ''Rothmans B ...

title,Car-Shares and Cemeteries: A Tribute to Jeremiah Kelly, EFC 1927-28
Tony I'Anson, ToffeeWeb, 10 May 2016 making 40 appearances and scoring one goal – a rare feat for him. In August 1930, having not played in the first team at

Goodison Park Goodison Park is a Association football, football stadium in Walton, Liverpool, Walton, Liverpool, England, it was the home of Premier League club Everton F.C., Everton from 1892 until 2025. It is now the home of Everton F.C. (women), Everton's ...

since the previous autumn and the club having been relegated, he signed for

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team currently compete in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They have played their ...

of the

Football League Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated t ...

to be deployed at

centre half 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 ...

.Everton's Concern Kelly-Carlisle
Liverpool Echo, 6 August 1930, via Everton Independent Research Data 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) and crossed the

Irish Sea The Irish Sea is a body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel and to the Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland in the north by the North Ch ...

to play for and manage

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, leading them to the final of the

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Sports Direct FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as D ...

in both 1931–32 and 1932–33, but losing to

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club is an Irish professional Association football, football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is List of football clubs by competit ...

on both occasions. In 1933 he was invited to play for

Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...

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 Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

were so poor that the directors decided to cancel his contract immediately, and McCloy also resigned in protest at this. Kelly spent the next 16 months in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

playing for

Glentoran Glentoran Football Club is a professional football club based in East Belfast, Northern Ireland, that plays in the NIFL Premiership. The club was founded in 1882 and has since won more than 130 major honours. They are one of three Northern Iris ...

, then returned to Scotland with

Dunfermline Athletic Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently compete in the after winning the 2022–23 Scottish League One title. Dunfermline play at ...

, but this was short deal which involved only one league appearance.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Jeremiah 1900 births 1977 deaths Footballers from Cambuslang Scottish people of Irish descent Scottish men's footballers English Football League players Blantyre Victoria F.C. players Ayr United F.C. players Everton F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players Glentoran F.C. players Stade Rennais FC players Dunfermline Athletic F.C. players Scottish football managers NIFL Premiership players Ligue 1 players League of Ireland players League of Ireland managers Scottish Football League players Men's association football wing halves Men's association football player-managers Scottish expatriate sportspeople in France Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Ireland Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's association footballers in the Republic of Ireland Scottish expatriate men's footballers Scottish Junior Football Association players 20th-century Scottish sportsmen