Neil Kelly (born 10 May 1962) is an English

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

coach and former professional player who was the head coach of

Cornwall RLFC Cornwall R.L.F.C. is an English professional sports, professional rugby league team based in Penryn, Cornwall, Penryn, Cornwall. They will play their home matches at Penryn RFC's Memorial Ground. History 2019–20: Ottawa Aces It was first ...

. He played club level rugby league for

Dewsbury Rams The Dewsbury Rams are a professional English rugby league club based in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire that compete in the Championship. They play their home games at the Tetley's Stadium, on Owl Lane. The Rams' main fanbase comes from their homet ...

(two spells),

Featherstone Rovers Featherstone Rovers are a professional rugby league club in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England, who play in the Championship. Featherstone is a former coal mining town with a population of around 16,000 and Rovers are one of the last "small ...

Wakefield Trinity Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, that plays in the Super League. One of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, between 1999 and 2016 the ...

and Hunslet Hawks as a or , and coached representative level rugby league (RL) for

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, and at club level for

Widnes Vikings The Widnes Vikings are an English rugby league club in Widnes, Cheshire, which competes in the Betfred Championship. The club plays home matches at the Halton Stadium. Founded as Widnes Football Club, they are one of the original twenty-two ...

Leigh Centurions The Leigh Leopards are a professional rugby league club based in Leigh, Greater Manchester, England, who compete in the Betfred Super League. The club was founded in 1878, and is one of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern ...

, and coached representative level rugby union (RU) for

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and e ...

(assistant), and at club level for

Ulster Rugby Ulster Rugby is one of the four professional provincial rugby union, rugby teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the Irish Rugby Football Unio ...

(defence), and

Doncaster Knights Doncaster Rugby Football Club are a rugby union club representing the town of Doncaster, England. The first XV are known as the "Doncaster Knights", and play in the RFU Championship. Being the most promoted side in English history has led to ...

(assistant).

Coaching career

Leigh Centurions

On his return to England and Rugby League Neil spent two years as the Head Coach and then Director of Football at Leigh Centurions Rugby League Club, competing in the Co-Operative Rugby League Championship.

Ulster

Kelly spent two and a half years working as the defence coach for Ulster Rugby Union Club.

Widnes Vikings

Whilst at Widnes, the club won the Grand Final.

Dewsbury Rams

No promotion for Dewsbury after Grand Final win.

Cornwall RLFC

On 8 Dec 2021 it was announced that Neil had been appointed as head coach of new club

. On 24 October 2022 it was announced that Neil's assistant Mike Abbott had taken over as head coach by mutual consent.

Genealogical information

Neil Kelly is one of three brothers to play professional Rugby League, Andrew "Andy" Kelly who played for

Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England, that competes in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league. The club has won five league championships, and one Challenge ...

and

Illawarra Steelers The Illawarra Steelers are an Australian rugby league football club based in the city of Wollongong, New South Wales. The club competed in Australia's top-level rugby league competition from 1982 NSWRFL season, 1982 until 1998 NRL season, 1998 ...

(Australia), and Richard Kelly who played for

and

Dewsbury Dewsbury is a minster and market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Calder and on an arm of the Calder and Hebble Navigation waterway. It is to the west of Wakefield, east of Hudder ...

References

External links

2011 Knights Coach Kelly aids RU World Cup Finals Team2011 Kelly Coaches Namibian RU World Cup Team2010 Kelly & Goulding Rally to Stricken Percivals Cause2009 Roles Change at Leigh Centurions2008 Kelly Joins Leigh2005 Ulster Retain Coach Neil Kelly2004 Super League Coach of the Year Joins Ulster RU2004 Ulster Delighted to Secure Neil Kelly2002 Welsh Coach Kelly Reappointed For New Zealand Challenge2001 Kelly's Brave Wales Run England Close2001 Neil Kelly Appointed as Wales Rugby Boss2001 Kelly Steers Widnes to Grand Final GloryKnights bring in KellyNeil Kelly videoNeil Kelly Audio InterviewNeil Kelly AudioNeil Kelly on the Namibian job
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Neil 1962 births Living people Cornwall RLFC coaches Dewsbury Rams coaches Dewsbury Rams players English male kickboxers English rugby league coaches English rugby league players English rugby union coaches Featherstone Rovers players Houston SaberCats coaches Hunslet R.L.F.C. players Leigh Leopards coaches Rugby league players from Wakefield Rugby league hookers Rugby league locks Ulster Rugby non-playing staff Wakefield Trinity players Wales national rugby league team coaches Widnes Vikings coaches