Kelly with York City |
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Darren Kelly[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 30 June 1979 [1] | ||
| Place of birth | Derry, Northern Ireland | ||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||
| Playing position | Defender | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Garforth Town | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Trojans | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1996–2002 | Derry City | 249 | (12) |
| 2002–2004 | Carlisle United | 54 | (2) |
| 2004–2006 | Portadown | 98 | (16) |
| 2006–2007 | Derry City | 43 | (4) |
| 2007–2009 | York City | 45 | (2) |
| 2009–2011 | Portadown | 56 | (4) |
| 2011 | Stalybridge Celtic | 0 | (0) |
| 2011– | Garforth Town | 32 | (10) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 1999–2001 | Northern Ireland U21 | 26 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 01:27, 20 May 2011 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). |
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Darren Kelly (born 30 June 1979) is a Northern Irish footballer who plays for Garforth Town as a defender.
He began his career at home-town club Derry City and made nearly 200 league appearances for the team before spending time at Nottingham forest and liverpool fc but returned to derry city before moving to English Football League side Carlisle Unitedin 2002 for £100.000, following financial difficulties at Derry. He spent two seasons with the club, which included an appearance in a Football League Trophy Final, after which he was released and returned to Northern Ireland with Portadown. He captained the side and eventually left after his contract expired in 2006, when he rejoined Derry for a second spell. He featured for the side in the UEFA Cup and UEFA Champions League and attracted the attention of several Scottish Premier League clubs, before eventually joining York City in the Conference National in 2007. After leaving York in 2009 he rejoined Portadown, but left in 2011. He is now currently coaching for York City in the Community.
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Kelly was born in Derry, County Londonderry,[2] and grew up close to Derry City's ground, the Brandywell Stadium.[3] Having played with Trojans in the Derry and District League as a youth, he progressed through the Derry City youth system and made his first team debut at home to Sligo Rovers on 18 February 1996.
Newspaper reports in October 2001 claimed Kelly had joined Third Division side Carlisle United, which were denied by Derry, who had rejected Carlisle's £100,000 bid for him.[4] He featured for Derry in the League of Ireland Cup Final in April 2002, and scored in the penalty shootout, which the team lost 3–2.[5] He eventually became one of many League of Ireland players who joined Carlisle under the management of Roddy Collins in August 2002 for a fee believed to be around £100,000.[6] 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. He made his Carlisle debut in a 2–0 defeat to Darlington on 27 August.[7] He featured for Carlisle in the Football League Trophy Final on 6 April 2003, which they lost 2–0 to Bristol City.[8] His first goal for Carlisle came as the equaliser in a 1–1 draw against York City and he finished the 2002–03 season with 42 appearances.[9][10] Derry revealed they were interested in re-signing Kelly in December 2003, having been transfer-listed by Carlisle.[11] Following the end of the 2003–04 season, Carlisle manager Paul Simpson told Kelly he needed to get fit if he wanted to stay at the club.[12]
He was one of three players released by Carlisle,[13] after which he signed a two-year contract for Portadown in August 2004.[14] Kelly became Portadown captain for the 2005–06 season and by December 2005 was being linked with a move away from the club, with his contract expiring in the summer.[15] He won the Harp player of the month award for February 2006.[16] He launched a stinging attack on the "prima donnas" at the club and felt some of his teammates lacked "ambition and determination".[17]
Kelly looked set to join League Two side Stockport County on a two-year contract in April 2006,[18] but a day later he said he was yet to decided whether to join them.[19] He rejected a new contract with Portadown with the aim of returning to professional football.[20] He eventually chose to return to his old club Derry City for the third time in May.[21] He played in all of Derry's six game in the 2006–07 UEFA Cup campaign,[22] which included a goal in the 5–1 victory over Gretna.[23] He was chosen as the eircom/Soccer Writer's Association of Ireland Player of the Month in September 2006.[24] He was named in the Professional Footballer Association of Ireland's team of the year in December 2006.[3] He featured for Derry in the first qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League in the 2007–08 season, playing in the 2–0 defeat to FC Pyunik.[25]
Kelly trialled at Kilmarnock of the Scottish Premier League in July 2007,[26] while Gretna were also interested in signing him, but refused to pay the £50,000 Derry wanted for him.[27] Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Dundee United had also made inquiries about signing Kelly,[28] although Inverness were only interested in loan terms.[26] Kelly instead signed for Conference National side York City on a two-year contract on 29 August for an undisclosed five-figure fee, with family reasons being his motivation for moving to a British club.[28][29][30] A day after signing for the club, he made his debut against Rushden & Diamonds and scored a late own goal, meaning his new side lost 3–2.[31] He was ruled out for at least a month with a suspected torn hamstring in January 2008, which was picked up in training,[32] and returned to the side in their 2–0 defeat against Cambridge United on 1 March 2008, after coming on as a 53rd minute substitute for Darren Craddock.[33] He finished the 2007–08 season with 33 appearances and two goals for York.[34] Kelly drew praise from York manager Colin Walker following York's 2–0 victory against Woking in October, which was his first start of the 2008–09 season.[35] Following this, he admitted fears over his future at York after struggling to feature in the team, having only made two starts since April.[36] It was confirmed in March 2009 that he would leave York at the end of the 2008–09 season.[37]
Kelly returned to Northern Ireland after re-signing for Portadown on a three-year contract in May.[38] After being leaving the club in January 2011 because of work commitments he signed for Conference North side Stalybridge Celtic on 25 January.[39][40] He left the club in February having made no appearances and signed for Northern Premier League Division One North club Garforth Town, making his debut in a 1–1 draw with Ossett Albion on 22 February.[41][42] He joined former club York as a community coach and an under-14 Centre of Excellence coach in March.[43] He finished the season with 14 appearances and four goals for Garforth.[44]
Kelly was capped 11 times by Northern Ireland at under-21 level.[45]
Kelly married his fiancée on 26 July 2008.[46]
| Club | Season | League[A] | FA Cup | League Cup | Other[B] | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Carlisle United | 2002–03[10] | 32 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 42 | 1 |
| 2003–04[47] | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 1 | |
| Total | 42 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 54 | 2 | |
| York City | 2007–08[34] | 27 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 33 | 2 |
| 2008–09[48] | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 0 | |
| Total | 36 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 45 | 2 | |
| Stalybridge Celtic | 2010–11[41] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Garforth Town | 2010–11[44] | 14 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 4 |
| Career totals | 92 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 113 | 8 | |