Darren Kelly

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Darren Kelly
Personal information
Full name	Darren Kelly
Date of birth	June 30, 1979 (age 27)
Place of birth	Derry, Northern Ireland
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.86 m)
Playing position	Centre back
Club information
Current club	Derry City
Number	6
Youth clubs
	Trojans F.C.
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1993–1994 1994–1995 1995–1996 1996–1996 1996–2002 2002–2004 2004–2006 2006–	Shelbourne Monaghan United Derry City Shelbourne Derry City Carlisle United Portadown Derry City	5 (0) 5 (0) 8 (0) 20 (0) 135 (6) 42 (2) 52 (10) 15 (2)
National team2
1999–2000	Northern Ireland U21	0?? (??)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19:03, 27 January 2007 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 19:03, 27 January 2007 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

Darren Kelly (born June 30, 1979 in Derry, Northern Ireland) is a Northern Irish footballer currently playing in the League of Ireland with Derry City F.C.

Contents 1 Career 2 Awards 3 External link 4 References

[edit] Career

Having played with Trojans F.C. in the Derry and District League as a youth, Kelly began his senior career at Shelbourne of Dublin before a move to Monaghan United in 1994. He was signed by his home-town club Derry City the following season. However, with limited first-team opportunities after making his debut at home to Sligo Rovers on 18 February 1996, he chose to return to Shelbourne during the 1995-96 season, where he showed his huge potential. He was quickly re-signed by Derry City again in 1996. It was not long before Kelly became one of the most feared centre backs in Irish football. However, he was one of many League of Ireland players who joined Carlisle United under the management of Roddy Collins in October 2002 for £100,000. 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. Kelly, a Northern Ireland Under-21 international, had a largely unsuccessful time at Carlisle with the club suffering relegation in 2003-04.

He was one of a number of players released by the then Nationwide Conference side, but he signed a two-year contract for Portadown F.C. in August 2004. Kelly made a great impact in the Irish League as an aggressive tackler and became Portadown captain for 2005-06. In April 2006, Kelly announced that he was unhappy at Portadown and would not be seeking a contract extension after two years at Shamrock Park. In the same month, he launched a stinging attack on the "prima donnas" at the club and felt some of his teammates lacked "ambition and determination". Kelly attracted attention from League Two side Stockport County as well as Linfield, Shelbourne FC, Drogheda United and Derry City FC. Kelly chose to return to his old club for the third time in May 2006, but was inelegible to play until July 2006. In his performances for the club, he reminded the Derry City fans of his huge ability and held his spot well against skillful European opposition during Derry's 2006 UEFA Cup campaign.

[edit] Awards

• Kelly was chosen as the eircom/Soccer Writers Association of Ireland Player of the Month in September 2006.^[1]

• Kelly was named in the Professional Footballer Association of Ireland's team of the year in December 2006.

[edit] External link

Kelly's player profile on CityWeb

[edit] References

Derry City F.C. - Current Squad
1 Tidman | 2 McCallion | 3 Hargan | 4 Hutton | 5 Rogers | 6 Kelly | 7 Higgins | 8 Martyn | 9 Beckett | 10 McHugh | 11 Brennan | 12 Oman | 14 McGlynn | 15 Deery | 16 Jennings | 17 Molloy | 18 Farren | 19 Bermingham | 20 McCafferty | 21 Moran | 22 O'Halloran | 23 McCourt | 24 Hynes | 25 Moore | 30 Ferry | Manager: Fenlon