Julian Kelly (born 6 September 1989) is an English

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 for Grantham Town.

Club career

Born in London, Kelly was with

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

until the age of 16 when he joined

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

as a scholar in June 2006. He finished the 2007–08 season with 27 appearances in the Reading reserves, playing in the position of

left 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 ...

. He featured for Reading on the bench in their opening game of the 2008–09 season, which they drew 0 – 0 with

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

. He made his debut for Reading in the League Cup against Dagenham & Redbridge. He then made his league debut against

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...

, playing in the

right wing Right-wing politics is the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that view certain social orders and Social stratification, hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position b ...

. On 21 January 2009, Reading manager

Steve Coppell Stephen James Coppell (born 9 July 1955) is an English professional football manager and former player. As a player, Coppell was a highly regarded right winger known for his speed, technical ability and work rate. He won domestic honours with ...

confirmed that his most likely replacement for the suspended

Liam Rosenior Liam James Rosenior (born 9 July 1984) is an English professional association football, football manager and former player who is the current head coach of Ligue 1 club RC Strasbourg Alsace, Strasbourg. As a player, he played either as a full-b ...

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 ...

would be Kelly. He joined

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 188 ...

on an initial one-month emergency

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

on 15 February 2010. On his debut for Wycombe Wanderers he scored from a cross for a 1–0 win over Millwall. In January 2011 Kelly joined Lincoln City on loan making his debut on 15 January in a 2–1 home defeat by

. On 1 June 2011, he signed a two-year contract with

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

. Kelly scored his first goal for Notts, a thunderous volley, in 3 – 2 win over

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 ...

. Similarly in 3–2 win against

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 ...

Kelly scored the winning the goal after an incisive pass from teammate Gavin Mahon. Kelly became a permanent fixture in Martin Allen's defence as Notts County climbed into the play-off positions midway through the season. In a 5–2 defeat to

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 ...

, Kelly came off the bench to score Notts' second goal. Kelly finished the 2011–12 season making 34 appearances overall and scoring 3 goals. He made his first start of the 2012–13 campaign in a 2–1 win over

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' ...

and made a further 23 appearances before being released at the end of the season. In September 2013 he joined

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...

on trial, but failed to earn a contract. After a year out of the game, Kelly joined

Northern Premier League Division One South The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English football league system. Geographically, the league c ...

side Spalding United in May 2014. He was with the club only a short time before moving to divisional rivals Carlton Town. In October 2014 he was on the move again, moving up a division to join Grantham Town.

International career

Despite being born in England, he was called into the Republic of Ireland under-19 squad in January 2008.

Personal life

His brother Oliver Kelly was also part of the Reading Academy. Kelly's older sister Natalie has been playing the lead female role in the Lion King in the West End whilst younger sister Siena recently won a place at the National School of Youth Ballet.

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Julian 1989 births Living people Footballers from the London Borough of Enfield English people of Irish descent English men's footballers Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Men's association football defenders Men's association football wingers Arsenal F.C. players Reading F.C. players Wycombe Wanderers F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Spalding United F.C. players Carlton Town F.C. players Grantham Town F.C. players English Football League players Northern Premier League players 21st-century English sportsmen 21st-century Irish sportsmen