Ciaran Kelly (footballer, born 1998)

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Not to be confused with the goalkeeper Ciarán Kelly (footballer, born 1980).

Ciarán Kelly
Personal information
Full name Ciarán Kelly
Date of birth (1998-07-04) 4 July 1998 (age 25)
Place of birth Lucan, Dublin, Ireland
Height 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Position(s)
Team information
Current team
 Bradford City
Number 18
Youth career
2003–2012 Esker Celtic
2012–2014 Lucan United
2014–2015 Peamount United
2015–2017 St Patrick's Athletic
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2017 St Patrick's Athletic 1 (0)
2018 Drogheda United 31 (6)
2019 St Patrick's Athletic 25 (1)
2020–2022 Bohemians 61 (1)
2020–2021 → Ballymena United (loan) 12 (1)
2023– Bradford City 15 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 10:10, 18 December 2023 (UTC)

Ciarán Kelly (born 4 July 1998) is an Irish professional footballer who plays for EFL League Two club Bradford City. He previously played for St Patrick's Athletic, the club where he started his professional career. He has also spent one season at Drogheda United as well as 3 seasons with Bohemians, where he was loaned out to NIFL Premiership side Ballymena United for 6 months.

Club career[edit]

Early career[edit]

Kelly started playing football with his local side in Lucan, Esker Celtic where he played from under 5's age group, right up to under 14's.[1] He then played for Lucan United from 2012 to 2014 before moving to Peamount United where he caught the eye of St Patrick's Athletic scouts.

St Patrick's Athletic[edit]

Kelly signed for St Patrick's Athletic on his 17th birthday ahead of their underage 2015 campaigns, with Kelly eligible for both the under 17 and under 19 sides.[2][3] Kelly impressed for the under 19's among an excellent squad including Fuad Sule, Aidan Keena, Darragh Markey, Jamie Lennon, JJ Lunney, Rory Feely, Conor Kane and Shane Elworthy, all of whom went on to play at senior level in the League of Ireland Premier Division or abroad. His first involvement with the first team came on 16 October 2015, when manager Liam Buckley included him on the bench for a league game with Drogheda United, although he remained an unused substitute. Kelly and the under 19's were narrowly beaten by Cork City in the final of the Enda McGuill Cup on 13 September 2016.[4] He made his first senior appearance on 25 October 2016 when he came off the bench for Ian Bermingham in the 88th minute of a 5–2 win over champions Dundalk at Richmond Park.[5] Unfortunately for Kelly and the Pats under 19's, on 1 November 2017, they again finished up their season up as runners up in the league, as they lost 1–0 in the final to Bohemians at Dalymount Park, in what was Kelly's last game in underage football.[6] Kelly made 2 more appearances for the first team in the 2017 season, against Firhouse Clover[7] and Shelbourne[8] in the Leinster Senior Cup.

Drogheda United season[edit]

With first team appearances at St Patrick's Athletic limited, it was announced on 1 January 2018 that Kelly had been persuaded to sign for Drogheda United by new manager Tim Clancy.[9] Kelly's first career goal came on 11 March 2018, in a 6–0 win over Athlone Town at United Park on the opening night of the season.[10] He proved to be a mainstay in the team and a key player as Drogheda had a late push in the league to finish in 4th place ahead of Longford Town to qualify for the League of Ireland Promotion Playoffs.[11] His side beat Shelbourne over 2 legs before they were knocked out by Finn Harps despite Kelly scoring a vital goal in the first leg to give Drogs the lead.[12] Kelly's first full season in senior football saw him make 39 appearances in all competitions, scoring seven goals from his centre back position.[13]

Return to St Patrick's Athletic[edit]

On 20 November 2018, it was announced that Kelly had signed a contract back at St Patrick's Athletic under new manager Harry Kenny.[14][15] Kelly's manager at Drogheda, Tim Clancy stated soon after his move that he would not have left the club if it had been any club other than Pat's.[16] Kelly's first league start came against Finn Harps on 25 February 2019, with Kelly playing at left back, covering for the injured Ian Bermingham.[17] He had to wait until the 12 April away to Cork City for his first start in his preferred centre back role and he impressed in a 1–1 draw which helped him nail down his spot in the starting 11 from there on.[18] Kelly's first senior goal for Pats came in a 2–0 win over UCD.[19][20][21] His first appearances in Europe came on 11 and 18 July 2019 as he played in both legs against IFK Norrköping of Sweden, as Pats lost 2–0 at home[22] and 2–1 away with Kelly being sent off in the 89th minute after 2 yellow cards.[23] Kelly announced on his Twitter account on 1 November 2019 that he was leaving St Patrick's Athletic following the ending of his contract.[24]

Bohemians[edit]

Kelly was announced as a pre-season signing for Phibsborough side Bohemians before the 2020 League of Ireland campaign.[25]

Ballymena United loan[edit]

After just 3 appearances in all competitions for Bohemians,[26] Kelly was loaned out to NIFL Premiership side Ballymena United on the 1 October 2020 until January 2021.[27] He made his debut in the opening game of the season, a 1–0 win away to Coleraine at The Showgrounds.[28] Hiss first goal for the club came on the 19 December 2020 when he opened the scoring at home to Glentoran in an eventual 1–1 draw.[29] He returned to Bohemians on the 11 January 2021 with his loan spell coming to a close.[30]

Bradford City[edit]

On 12 December 2022, it was announced that Kelly had signed for EFL League Two side Bradford City from 1 January 2023 on a two-and-a-half year contract, until the summer of 2025.[31]

Career statistics[edit]

As of match played on 16 December 2023[32]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup[a] League Cup[b] Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
St Patrick's Athletic 2015 LOI Premier Division 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2016 LOI Premier Division 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
2017 LOI Premier Division 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 2[c] 0 2 0
Total 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 3 0
Drogheda United 2018 LOI First Division 31 6 2 0 1 0 — 5[d] 1 39 7
St Patrick's Athletic 2019 LOI Premier Division 25 1 2 0 1 0 2[e] 0 2[c] 0 32 1
Bohemians 2020 LOI Premier Division 2 0 1 0 — 0 0 — 3 0
2021 LOI Premier Division 25 0 4 0 — 5[f] 0 — 34 0
2022 LOI Premier Division 34 1 3 0 — — — 37 1
Total 61 1 8 0 — 5 0 — 74 1
Ballymena United (loan) 2020–21 NIFL Premiership 12 1 — — — — 12 1
Bradford City 2022–23 League Two 4 0 — — — 0 0 4 0
2023–24 League Two 11 0 0 0 3 0 — 4[g] 0 17 0
Total 15 0 0 0 3 0 — 4 0 21 0
Career total 134 9 12 0 5 0 7 0 13 1 180 10
  1. ^ Includes FAI Cup & FA Cup
  2. ^ Includes League of Ireland Cup & EFL Cup
  3. ^ a b Appearances in Leinster Senior Cup
  4. ^ 4 appearances & 1 goal in League of Ireland Promotion play-offs and 1 appearance in Leinster Senior Cup
  5. ^ Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  6. ^ Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League
  7. ^ Appearances in EFL Trophy

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Esker Celtic FC - 'One of our own' Congratulations to... | Facebook" – via www.facebook.com.
  2. ^ "Ciaran Kelly". www.stpatsfc.com.
  3. ^ "Extratime.ie - Ciaran Kelly". www.extratime.ie.
  4. ^ "Under 19s win Enda McGuill Cup". 13 September 2016.
  5. ^ "Extratime.ie - Live Updates - 2016 League of Ireland Premier Division - St. Patrick's Athletic -v- Dundalk". www.extratime.ie.
  6. ^ "SSE Airtricity League". Sseairtricityleague.ie. Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
  7. ^ "Extratime.ie - Live Updates - 2017 Leinster Senior Cup Quarter Finals - St. Patrick's Athletic -v- Firhouse Clover". www.extratime.ie.
  8. ^ "Extratime.ie - Live Updates - 2017 Leinster Senior Cup Semi Finals - St. Patrick's Athletic -v- Shelbourne". www.extratime.ie.
  9. ^ "Drogheda United announce new signings - League of Ireland". Leagueofireland.ie. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
  10. ^ "Extratime.ie - Live Updates - 2018 League of Ireland First Division - Drogheda United -v- Athlone Town". www.extratime.ie.
  11. ^ "Summary - First Division - Republic of Ireland - Results, fixtures, tables and news - Soccerway". ie.soccerway.com.
  12. ^ "Play-off Report: Drogheda United 1 - 1 Finn Harps". ExtraTime.ie.
  13. ^ "Republic of Ireland - C. Kelly - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway". ie.soccerway.com.
  14. ^ "Defender Ciaran Kelly rejoins St Patrick's Athletic from Drogheda United". ExtraTime.ie.
  15. ^ Dunne, Alex (20 November 2018). "Kelly rejoins St Patrick's Athletic from Drogheda". dublinlive.
  16. ^ "Blow for Clancy as Kelly heads back to Pats". Independent.ie.
  17. ^ "Extratime.ie - Live Updates - 2019 League of Ireland Premier Division - St. Patrick's Athletic -v- Finn Harps". www.extratime.ie.
  18. ^ "SSE Airtricity League". Sseairtricityleague.ie. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
  19. ^ Mulreaney, Author Gerard (28 April 2019). "Ciarán Kelly delighted with his first Senior goal for St Pats". League of Ireland. {{cite web}}: |first= has generic name (help)
  20. ^ "Extratime.ie - Live Updates - 2019 League of Ireland Premier Division - St. Patrick's Athletic -v- UCD". www.extratime.ie.
  21. ^ "St Pat's continue winning run as second half surge sinks UCD". Independent.ie.
  22. ^ "Extratime.ie - Live Updates - 2019/2020 Europa League First Qualifying Round - St. Patrick's Athletic -v- Norrkoping". www.extratime.ie.
  23. ^ "Norrköping-St Patrick's - Line-ups | UEFA Europa League". UEFA.com.
  24. ^ Twitter message
  25. ^ "Bohemians sign Ciaran Kelly from St Patrick's Athletic". RTÉ.ie. 16 January 2020.
  26. ^ "Republic of Ireland - C. Kelly - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway".
  27. ^ "Ciaran Kelly joins on loan from Bohemian".
  28. ^ "Coleraine 0-1 Ballymena United".
  29. ^ "Ballymena United 1-1 Glentoran".
  30. ^ "Defender Kelly moves back to Bohemians". BBC Sport.
  31. ^ "Former Europa League defender agrees Bradford City move to challenge himself and bring composure on the ball". www.yorkshirepost.co.uk. 12 December 2022.
  32. ^ "Republic of Ireland – C.Kelly". Ie.soccerway.com. Retrieved 25 July 2019.

External links[edit]

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