Russell James Kelly (born 10 August 1976) is a Northern Irish former footballer who played as a midfielder. Kelly played for Leyton Orient and Darlington in the English Football League and had later spells with clubs in the Scottish League and in Iceland, before finishing his career with Linfield in the Irish League.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Russell James Kelly[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 10 August 1976 | ||
| Place of birth | Ballymoney, Northern Ireland | ||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1995–1996 | Chelsea | 0 | (0) |
| 1996 | → Leyton Orient (loan) | 6 | (0) |
| 1996–1997 | Darlington | 23 | (2) |
| 1997 | St Mirren | 4 | (0) |
| 1997–1998 | Dundee | 20 | (2) |
| 1998 | Þór Akureyri | ||
| 1998–2000 | Ayr United | 21 | (1) |
| 2000 | Partick Thistle | 2 | (1) |
| 2000–2003 | Linfield | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Playing career edit
Kelly began his career with Chelsea but did not make a first team appearance. He had a two-month loan spell beginning in March 1996 with Third Division club Leyton Orient before joining Darlington in August, then also of the Third Division. He scored two goals in 23 games for the Quakers, scoring in a 1–1 draw with Rochdale and a 5–2 victory over Lincoln City.[2]
He then moved to Scottish football, signing for St Mirren in August 1997. Although he scored in the Scottish League Cup, he left the club in September to join Dundee where he won the Scottish First Division. After a season there, he dropped a division to sign for Ayr United after a short spell in Iceland. He left Ayr for a short spell with Partick Thistle in March 2000.[3]
Kelly joined Linfield in November 2000; the fans funded his signing.[4][5] He made a great start to his Blues career, scoring in December against arch-rivals Glentoran.[6] He also played for Linfield in UEFA Champions League qualifying against FC Torpedo Kutaisi.[7] Kelly was released by Linfield in May 2003.
Honours edit
Linfield
References edit
- ^ "Russell Kelly". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
- ^ "Games played by Russell Kelly in 1996/1997". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
- ^ "Russell Kelly". footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
- ^ "Linfield complete Kelly signing". BBC Sport. 14 November 2000. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
- ^ Clark, Bill (26 November 2000). "Kelly's fan-atics". Sunday Mirror. p. 74. Retrieved 23 July 2021 – via Gale OneFile: News.
- ^ O'Hara, Denis (27 December 2000). "Football: Kelly's eye! Linfield 2 Glentoran 0 – Russell and Gavin make it a Blue Christmas for Glens". The News Letter. Belfast. p. 40. Retrieved 23 July 2021 – via Gale OneFile: News.
- ^ "infield–Torpedo Kutaisi 2001 History". UEFA. Retrieved 23 July 2021.