Darren Kelly

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Darren Kelly (born June 30, 1979 in Derby, England) is a Northern Irish footballer currently playing in the League of Ireland with Derry City F.C.

Kelly began his career at Derry City and it was not long before he became one of the most feared centre backs in Irish football. However, he was one of many League of Ireland players who joined Carlisle United under the management of Roddy Collins in October 2002 for £100,000. This came at a time when Derry City found themselves in a financial crisis and were forced to off-load several key members of the team. Kelly, a Northern Ireland Under-21 international, had a largely unsuccessful time at Carlisle with the club suffering relegation in 2003-04.

He was one of a number of players released by the then Nationwide Conference side, but he signed a two-year contract for Portadown F.C. in August 2004. Kelly made a great impact in the Irish League as an aggressive tackler and became Portadown captain for 2005-06. In April 2006, Kelly announced that he was unhappy at Portadown and would not be seeking a contract extension after two years at Shamrock Park. In the same month, he launched a stinging attack on the "prima donnas" at the club and felt some of his teammates lacked "ambition and determination". Kelly attracted attention from League Two side Stockport County as well as Linfield, Shelbourne F.C., Drogheda United and Derry City F.C. Kelly chose to return to his old club in May 2006, but was inelegible to play until July 2006. In his performances thus far for the club, he has certainly reminded the Derry City fans of his huge ability.

[edit] Awards

Kelly was chosen as the eircom/Soccer Writers Association of Ireland Player of the Month in September 2006.^[1]

Kelly was named in the Professional Footballer Association of Ireland's team of the year in December 2006.

[edit] References

Derry City F.C. - Current Squad
2 McCallion | 3 Hargan | 4 Hutton | 5 Delaney | 7 Higgins | 8 Martyn | 9 Beckett | 10 McHugh | 11 Brennan | 12 Oman | 14 McGlynn | 15 Deery | 16 Jennings | 17 Molloy | 18 Farren | 23 McCourt | 24 Kelly | 31 McCafferty | Manager: Fenlon