Jack Kelly (Irish footballer)

Jack Kelly
Personal information
Full name John Kelly
Place of birth Dublin, Ireland
Playing position Forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1919-1924 St. James's Gate
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

John Kelly was an Irish footballer, who was top-scorer in the inaugural season of the League of Ireland, notching up 11 goals for St. James's Gate. He also scored the only goal in the first ever FAI Cup final that same season.

Club career

In the inaugural season of the League of Ireland, Kelly scored in St. James's Gate's first league fixture, a 5-1 win over Dublin United on 17 September 1921.[1] He ended the season as top scorer in the league with 11 goals. He also scored the winning goal in the first ever FAI Cup final against Shamrock Rovers on 8 April 1922 in the final replayed held at Dalymount Park, Dublin. 10,000 people watched St James's Gate complete the League and Cup Double by defeating Shamrock Rovers in a fixture marred by violence.[2] With "the Gate", Kelly also won the Leinster Senior Cup that same season. Kelly's team-mate, Paddy Duncan would score six goals that season.[3] Duncan, along with fellow team-mates Charlie Dowdall, Thomas Murphy, Ernest McKay and Michael Farrell be later be included in the Irish Free State squad for the 1924 Olympics Games.

The following season; St. James's Gate finished the league in 5th place, 14 points behind winners Shamrock Rovers. Kelly notched up 8 goals, while Duncan was the Gate's top-scorer with 14 goals.[3] In the FAI Cup, St. James's Gate beat fellow Dublin side Olympia 1-0 at Bellevue Lodge on 6 January 1923 before losing in the Second Round at home to Shelbourne 1-2 on 20 January.

The following season Kelly would hit seven league goals as "the Gate" would again finish 5th in the league, 12 points behind winners Bohemians. Dowdall was the Gate's top-scorer with 11 goals.[3] In the First Round of the FAI Cup, St. James's Gate beat fellow Dublin side Pioneers 3-2 at St. James's Park on 5 January 1924. Shelbourne United were beaten 3-2 at home on 17 February before "the Gate" were thumped 0-4 by Fordsons in the semi-final away at the Mardyke on 2 March.

Personal life

Kelly was a distant relative of both Republic of Ireland international football Robbie Keane and Morrissey, front-man of English band The Smiths.[4]

Honours

References

  1. ↑ "Jack Kelly". Extratime. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  2. ↑ Rice, Eoghan (2005). "Foundation". We Are Rovers. Nonsuch. p. 35. ISBN 1-84588-510-4. Incensed with the result, Rovers supporters invaded the pitch and scuffles broke out between supporters and the victorious St. James's Gate players. The Rovers fans were soon joined by their own players who invaded the opposition changing room and engaged in a mass brawl. The scene was one of mayhem and was only halted when the brother of one of the St. James Gate players took a gun from his belt and fired into the roof.
  3. 1 2 3 "1921-22-to-1928-29" (PDF). historical-lineups.com. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  4. ↑ Murphy, Cormac (2 March 2013). "Rob's not the only soccer royalty in the family as Morrissey's links to heroes of the 1920s revealed". The Herald. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
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