Jack Kelsey
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Alfred John "Jack" Kelsey (November 19, 1929 – 18 March 1992) was a Welsh international football goalkeeper.
Kelsey spent most of his career at Arsenal, after the club signed him from Welsh side Winch Wen in 1949. After two years in the reserves, Kelsey made his debut at Highbury against Charlton Athletic in February 1951 - his first start was not an auspicious one, as Arsenal lost 5-2. He stayed in the reserves for another year and a half after that. He returned to the side during the 1952-53 season, sharing goalkeeping duties with George Swindin, and made 29 appearances in a side that won the First Division.
With a rugged build and consistently solid catching, Kelsey was Arsenal's No. 1 for the next eight seasons; though he didn't win any major honours with Arsenal, he was a runner-up in the first Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (precursor of the UEFA Cup) final in 1958, playing for a London XI representative side against FC Barcelona. He became a regular for Wales as well, winning 41 caps. He was Wales's keeper in the 1958 World Cup, their only finals appearance to date, where they were eventually knocked out 1-0 by winners Brazil in the quarter-finals.
Kelsey played for the Great Britain team against Ireland in 1955.
Kelsey's career was cut short after he sustained a back injury playing for Wales in a friendly against Brazil in May 1962, whilst trying to save at the feet of Vavá; despite many attempts to rectify his injury, he was forced to retire a year later. In all he played 352 times for Arsenal, the second-highest number of appearances by a 'keeper for the club (bettered only by David Seaman). Kelsey later worked for Arsenal as the club's commercial manager. He died in 1992, at the age of 62.
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Wales squad - 1958 FIFA World Cup | |
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1 Kelsey | 2 Williams | 3 Hopkins | 4 Sullivan | 5 M. Charles | 6 Bowen | 7 Medwin | 8 Hewitt | 9 J. Charles | 10 I. Allchurch | 11 C. Jones | 12 K. Jones | 13 Vearnecombe | 14 Edwards | 15 C. Baker | 16 Crowe | 17 Leek | 18 Vernon | 19 Webster | 20 Elsworthy | 21 L. Allchurch | 22 T. Baker | Coach: Murphy |
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