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Tony Kelly (footballer, born 1964)

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English footballer For other people named Tony Kelly, see Tony Kelly (disambiguation).

Tony Kelly
Personal information
Full name Anthony Gerald Kelly
Date of birth (1964-10-01) 1 October 1964 (age 60)
Place of birth Prescot, England
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
1982–1983 Liverpool
1983–1984 Prescot Cables
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1984–1986 Wigan Athletic 101 (15)
1986–1987 Stoke City 36 (4)
1988–1989 West Bromwich Albion 26 (1)
1988 → Chester City (loan) 5 (0)
1988 → Colchester United (loan) 13 (2)
1989–1991 Shrewsbury Town 101 (15)
1991–1994 Bolton Wanderers 106 (5)
1994 Port Vale 4 (1)
1994 Millwall 2 (0)
1994 Wigan Athletic 0 (0)
1994–1995 Peterborough United 13 (2)
1995–1996 Wigan Athletic 2 (0)
1996–1997 Altrincham
1997 Sligo Rovers 13 (1)
Total 422 (46)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Anthony Gerald Kelly (born 1 October 1964) is an English former footballer who played mainly in central midfield.

A former Liverpool trainee, he moved from non-League Prescot Cables to Wigan Athletic in 1984. The club's Player of the Year in 1985, he also helped Wigan to victory in the 1985 Associate Members' Cup final. Sold on to Stoke City in 1986 for a £80,000 fee, he was moved on to West Bromwich Albion for £60,000 a year later. Loaned out to Chester City and Colchester United, he was transferred to Shrewsbury Town in January 1989 for a £30,000 fee. Two years and more than 100 games later, he was sold to Bolton Wanderers for £100,000. A popular player at Bolton, he helped the club to win promotion out of the Second Division in 1992–93. Released in 1994, he had brief spells at Port Vale, Millwall, Wigan Athletic, Peterborough United, Altrincham and Sligo Rovers, before he retired in 1997.

Career

Wigan Athletic

Kelly began his career as an apprentice at Liverpool, before joining non-League Prescot Cables in 1983. He returned to the Football League in January 1984, signing for Third Division Wigan Athletic. He made just over 100 appearances for Wigan. He was voted Player of the Year in 1985, after he scored in a 3–1 victory over Brentford in the Associate Members' Cup final final at Wembley. The club missed out on promotion in 1985–86 after finishing one point behind third-place Derby County.

Stoke City

He moved on to Second Division Stoke City in April 1986, as manager Mick Mills paid out a fee of £80,000. However, Mills and Kelly did not enjoy a happy relationship. Mills ordered Kelly to lose weight not long after he arrived at the Victoria Ground. He still played 43 games for the "Potters" in 1986–87, scoring four goals, before he was sold to Ron Saunders' West Bromwich Albion for £60,000 in July 1987.

West Bromwich Albion

Ron Atkinson replaced Saunders as manager in September 1987, and so Kelly's impact at The Hawthorns was limited in 1987–88. He instead had successive loan outings with Chester City and Colchester United in 1988. At Chester, he was reunited with Harry McNally, the man who had signed him at Wigan; however, he only played five league games for the "Seals". At Colchester, he was signed by Steve Foley on 24 October and scored two goals in twenty games for Colchester in the 1988–89 season, as the club struggled at the foot of the Fourth Division. He was substituted at half-time by Jock Wallace in United's match at York City on 21 January and left the ground without saying goodbye to his teammates, ending his loan spell at Layer Road.

Shrewsbury Town

In January 1989, Shrewsbury Town manager Ian McNeill secured Kelly's services for £30,000. Just as with Wigan some years previous, he scored 15 goals in 101 Third Division appearances, however, this time after two years he was sold on to Phil Neal's Bolton Wanderers for £100,000.

Bolton Wanderers

He established himself in the first team in 1991–92, and his consistent performances led to him being named on the PFA Team of the Year. He continued to be a first-team regular under new manager Bruce Rioch. He helped the "Trotters" to win promotion out of the Second Division as runners-up in 1992–93 before leaving the club at the end of the 1993–94 campaign.

In three years with Bolton, Kelly became a firm favourite with the fans, who nicknamed him Zico in homage to Kelly's footballing style, despite his (at times) obvious weight and fitness problems. He was a cult figure with the fans during his stay at Burnden Park. He was a key figure in the exciting team that Bruce Rioch built, as Bolton rose from Third Division obscurities to FA Cup 'giant killings' and pushing at the door of the newly formed Premier League. In total he amassed over 100 league appearances for the club before September 1994, when at age of 30 he was given a free transfer to Port Vale.

Later career

He did not find success at Vale Park, despite finding the net against Notts County, and instead moved on to Millwall later in 1994. Kelly struggled to regain his form and fitness, and after two games for the "Lions" he returned to former club Wigan Athletic, before signing for Peterborough United. He played 13 league games for United before returning to Wigan in 1995 and finally dropping out of the Football League as he joined non-League Altrincham in February 1996. In 1997, he enjoyed a spell in the League of Ireland with Sligo Rovers under Jimmy Mullen; Kelly scored his only league goal for the club on his debut; he made a total of 17 appearances for Sligo before retiring.

Post-retirement

In 2008, Kelly rejoined Bolton Wanderers as Fans Liaison Officer. Like his former teammate John McGinlay, Kelly is a 'converted' Bolton fan and has a weekly column in The Bolton News where he gives an insight into recent events at the Wanderers. He now also coaches Bolton Wanderers' U18s alongside David Lee, Kelly's former teammate. In a September 2008 poll of Bolton fans, Kelly was voted the 34th greatest player ever to don a Bolton shirt. Kelly regularly takes part in charity football events at BWFC.

Personal life

Kelly is the uncle of Joey Barton.

Career statistics

Source:

Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Wigan Athletic 1983–84 Third Division 29 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 31 2
1984–85 Third Division 40 4 4 0 2 0 7 3 53 7
1985–86 Third Division 32 9 5 1 2 3 4 0 43 13
Total 101 15 10 1 4 3 12 3 127 22
Stoke City 1985–86 Second Division 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
1986–87 Second Division 35 4 5 0 2 0 1 0 43 4
Total 36 4 5 0 2 0 1 0 44 4
West Bromwich Albion 1987–88 Second Division 26 1 1 0 2 0 1 0 30 1
1988–89 Second Division 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 26 1 1 0 2 0 1 0 30 1
Chester City (loan) 1988–89 Third Division 5 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 7 0
Colchester United (loan) 1988–89 Fourth Division 13 2 4 0 0 0 3 0 20 2
Shrewsbury Town 1988–89 Second Division 20 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 20 5
1989–90 Third Division 43 5 1 0 4 0 3 0 51 5
1990–91 Third Division 38 5 6 1 4 1 1 0 49 7
Total 101 15 7 1 8 1 4 0 120 17
Bolton Wanderers 1991–92 Third Division 31 2 6 0 4 1 3 0 44 3
1992–93 Second Division 36 2 5 0 1 0 3 1 45 3
1993–94 First Division 35 1 7 0 4 1 3 0 49 2
1994–95 First Division 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0
Total 106 5 18 0 9 2 9 1 142 8
Port Vale 1994–95 First Division 4 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 5 1
Millwall 1994–95 First Division 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Peterborough United 1994–95 Second Division 13 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 2
Wigan Athletic 1995–96 Third Division 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 0
Career total 409 45 45 2 28 6 31 4 513 57
A.  The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the Anglo-Italian Cup, Football League Trophy and Full Members Cup.

Honours

Individual

Wigan Athletic

Bolton Wanderers

References

  1. ^ "Tony Kelly". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  2. Dunk, Peter, ed. (1987). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987–88. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 352. ISBN 978-0-356-14354-5.
  3. "Who Gets Your Vote?". 20 April 2005. Archived from the original on 25 February 2012. Retrieved 2 August 2010.
  4. ^ "Stoke City: Kelly eyes a Bolton backlash as Potters come to town". The Sentinel. 5 November 2011. Retrieved 24 December 2011.
  5. ^ "Tony Kelly – Players – Colchester United". coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  6. Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. p. 160. ISBN 0-9529152-0-0.
  7. "Altrincham FC Official Web Site – Players of 1997/98". lusaweb.co.uk. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  8. U18s Profile
  9. "Kelly's Back". bwfc.co.uk. 3 September 2008. Archived from the original on 12 December 2008. Retrieved 3 November 2008.
  10. Tony Kelly at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
  11. Tony Kelly at Soccerbase Edit this at Wikidata
Awards
1991–92 Football League Third Division PFA Team of the Year
Wigan Athletic F.C. Player of the Year
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