Alan Keely

Alan Keely
Personal information
Full nameAlan Vincent Keely
Date of birth10 May 1982
Place of birthDublin, Ireland
Height6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Playing positionDefender
Youth career
St. Joseph's C.B.S.
2002UC Santa Barbara Gauchos
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
2001–2002Shelbourne F.C.0(0)
2003Kildare County F.C.14(0)
2004Dublin City F.C.
2004Finn Harps F.C.8(0)
2005–2006Dublin City F.C.0(0)
2006–2007Waterford United F.C.21(0)
2007–2009Shelbourne F.C.57(1)
2010Malahide United F.C.
National team
Ireland U16
Ireland U17
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Alan Vincent Keely (born 10 May 1982) is a retired Irish footballer. He is the son of former League of Ireland player and manager, Dermot Keely.

Career

Keely began his senior career with Shelbourne in 2001 who were under the management of his father Dermot. He made one senior appearance for Shelbourne in 2001/02 season during a League of Ireland Cup match against Shamrock Rovers on 29 October 2001. He moved to the USA to link up with UCSB Gauchos while studying at the University of California, Santa Barbara.[1] With the Gauchos, he appeared in 22 games scoring 1 goal in the process.[2] He also led the team to the 2002 NCAA Men's Soccer Championship, also known as the College Cup, for the first time in their history.[3] The Gauchos won their 1st Round game, but crashed out of the tournament in the 2nd Round.[4]

After his time in America, Keely became a professional and had spells with Kildare County, Finn Harps, Dublin City and Waterford United. In the 2005 season, he was an instrumental figure in helping Dublin City win promotion to the Premier Division.[5] Keely continued as a regular starter for the Vikings during the 2006 season until Dublin City went out of existence mid-way during the 2006 campaign leaving him as a free agent.[6] He later signed for Waterford United[7] becoming a regular figure for them but his presence was not enough to prevent Waterford from being relegated to the First Division that season. Keely stayed on with Waterford for the 2007 season and the club received a reprieve resulting in Waterford being re-instated to the Premier Division after Shelbourne's demotion to the First Division in February 2007. He once again became a regular in the Waterford side during the 2007 season but he would depart the club in July 2007 to sign for his former club Shelbourne to help the Reds in their push up the First Division table.[8]

Keely made his Shelbourne 2nd spell debut on 6 July 2007 in a 1–0 victory against Wexford Youths at Tolka Park[9] and scored his first Shelbourne goal against his former club Finn Harps on 21 September 2007 at Tolka Park with a powerful first half header during a 2–1 defeat for Shels.[10] He finished a First Division runner-up with Shelbourne in 2008 and 2009 before departing the club at the end of the 2009 season. In his 3 seasons at Shelbourne, Keely made 61 League and Cup appearance scoring one goal. Keely joined Leinster Senior League side Malahide United in 2010.

Honours

References

  1. ↑ Alan Keely Profile → ucsbgauchos.cstv.com
  2. ↑ 2002 Final Statistics From www.UCSBGauchos.com, Retrieved 12 February 2008.
  3. ↑ 12th-Ranked Men's Soccer Hosts USD In First Round Of NCAA College Cup This Saturday From www.UCSBGauchos.com, Posted 21 November 2002.
  4. ↑ 12th-Ranked Men's Soccer Loses NCAA Second Round Heartbreaker At Cal, 2–1 From www.UCSBGauchos.com, 27 November 2002.
  5. ↑ Vikings plunder place in Premier Division → www.rte.ie
  6. ↑ Dublin City FC bow out of eircom League → www.rte.ie
  7. ↑ Waterford United snap up Dublin City trio → www.rte.ie
  8. ↑ Summer Signing!!! → www.shelbournefc.com
  9. ↑ Shelbourne 1–0 Wexford Youths → www.rte.ie
  10. ↑ Shelbourne 1–2 Finn Harps → www.rte.ie

External links