Lloyd Casius Kelly (born 6 October 1998) is an English 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 defender for club

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

. Mainly a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

, he can also play as a

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 ...

Club career

Bristol City

Kelly joined Bristol City at the age of 12 after he was spotted playing for local side Bristol Central. In 2015–16, he was included in City's pre-season squad that visited Portugal. On 8 August 2017, Kelly made his debut for Bristol City in a 5–0 victory 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 ...

in the

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 ...

. Kelly made his first league start on 23 December 2017 against

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...

, and scored his first league goal against

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 ...

just three days later. At the end of the 2017–18 season, he was named the Senior Reds' Young Player of the Year. On 19 March 2018, he was named in the EFL "Team of the Week" for gameweek 38. He was praised for his 'maturity in defence' as well as providing the assist for the only goal of the game against

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The club currently competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Ipswich Town were founded in 1878 but did not turn ...

AFC Bournemouth

On 18 May 2019, Kelly signed for Premier League club

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. ...

for an undisclosed fee, reported as £13 million, after eight years at Bristol City. He made his debut for Bournemouth in an

tie against

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club moved its home g ...

on 25 September 2019. His league debut followed in June 2020 when he played as a substitute 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 scored his first goal for the club on 17 April 2021 in a 3–1 win against

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 ...

. For the 2021–22 season, Kelly began to captain Bournemouth in the absence of club captain

Steve Cook Steve Anthony Cook (born 19 April 1991) is an English professional association football, footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Queens Park Rangers F.C., Queens Park Rangers. Club career Brighton & Hove Albion Born in Hastings, East S ...

, beginning with the opening fixture of the campaign; a 2–2 home draw against

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

. Kelly started the first 14 games of the season, playing a pivotal role in the Cherries' unbeaten start. This 14-game unbeaten run equalled a club record dating back to 1961. Kelly scored his first goal of the season in a 3–0 home win against

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 ...

. Kelly was later confirmed as the Cherries' club captain after the departure of previous captain Steve Cook. On 5 June 2024, the club announced he would be leaving in the summer when his contract expired.

Newcastle United

On 13 June 2024,

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

announced the signing of Kelly on a free transfer, joining the club from 1 July under his former coach

Eddie Howe Edward John Frank Howe (born 29 November 1977) is an English professional football manager and former player, who is the manager of Premier League club Newcastle United. A centre-back during his playing career, Howe spent most of his playing ...

Juventus

On 3 February 2025, Kelly joined

on loan, with an obligation to make the transfer permanent at the end of the season. On May 2025, the club confirmed that they have permanently signed Kelly for a transfer fee of €17.5 million, with additional performance-based add-ons.

International career

In August 2017, Kelly made his debut for

England U20 England national under-20 football team, also known as England Under-20s or England U20(s) or England Men's Elite Squad, represents England in association football at an under-20 age level and is controlled by the Football Association, the gov ...

, coming on as a substitute in a 3–0 win over the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. On 12 November 2018, he received his first call-up to the under-21 side and made his debut as a third minute substitute during a 2–1 win over

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Ferrara Ferrara (; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, capital of the province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main ...

on 15 November 2018. Kelly was a member of England's 23-man squad for the

2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship The 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-21 Euro 2019) was the 22nd edition of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship (25th edition if the Under-23 era is also included), the biennial international youth association ...

and

2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship The 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-21 Euro 2021) was the 23rd edition of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship (26th edition if the Under-23 era is also included), the biennial international youth Association ...

Personal life

Born in England, Kelly is of Jamaican descent. From the age of six, Kelly spent twelve years in

foster care Foster care is a system in which a minor has been placed into a ward, group home ( residential child care community or treatment centre), or private home of a state- certified caregiver, referred to as a "foster parent", or with a family mem ...

alongside his siblings.

Career statistics

Honours

AFC Bournemouth *

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 ...

runner-up: 2021–22 Newcastle United *

: 2024–25 Individual * EFL Championship Team of the Season: 2021–22 *

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's Football in England, En ...

: 2021–22 Championship

References

External links

Profile
at the Juventus FC website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Lloyd 1998 births Living people Footballers from Bristol English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Bristol City F.C. players AFC Bournemouth players Newcastle United F.C. players Juventus FC players English Football League players Premier League players Serie A players English expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy English expatriate sportspeople in Italy England men's youth international footballers England men's under-21 international footballers English people of Jamaican descent Black British sportsmen Sportspeople of Jamaican descent 21st-century English sportsmen