Talented and loyal servant to club and country:ALAN KELLY, who has died aged 72, was a footballer, coach and manager and made 47 appearances in goal for the Republic of Ireland between 1956 and 1973.
As a keeper, he was renowned for his agility and speed. And at his best he was a commanding figure in the penalty area, claiming crosses with ease.
In November 1956, while playing League of Ireland football, he made his international debut in a friendly against the then-reigning world champions West Germany. Ireland won the match, played at Dalymount Park, 3-0.
The clean sheet ensured that he retained his place for the next fixture – a World Cup qualifier at Wembley against England in May 1957.
A strong home side that included Stanley Matthews and Tom Finney won 5-1.
“I didn’t have a particularly good game and I wasn’t asked to play again for 4½ years after that,” he recalled.
But he subsequently made amends many times over. “He wore the Irish jersey with pride and always served his country with distinction,” FAI president David Blood said.
An assistant to the Republic’s manager John Giles in the 1970s, Kelly managed the Irish side in a caretaker capacity against Switzerland in 1980.
Born in Bray, Co Wicklow, in 1936, he was educated at St Peter’s School. He played with local teams Cualann Rovers and Dargle Rovers before joining Bray Wanderers in 1955.
He joined Drumcondra in 1956, winning an FAI cup winner’s medal in his first season following Drums’ 2-0 win over Shamrock Rovers. The side went on to become league champions in 1958.
That year also he was signed to Preston North End, but during his first three seasons he was kept out of the team by English goalkeeper Fred Else.
However, following the side’s relegation to the Second Division in 1961 the incoming manager Jimmy Milne gave him the opportunity to establish himself in the Preston line-up.
He made his full debut in an FA cup tie against Swansea Town, the first of a record-breaking 513 appearances for Preston.
The highlight of his club career was the 1964 FA cup final against West Ham United. He was outstanding and despite being injured in the second half continued to make audacious saves.
However, in the third minute of extra time, Ronnie Boyce headed the winning goal to make it 3-2 for West Ham.
By now Kelly had returned to international duty, helping Ireland to the European Nations Cup quarter-finals. At that point the team was knocked out by Spain. No blame could be attached to the goalkeeper, whose “brilliance” Séamus Devlin noted in this newspaper, adding, “he did not make one mistake in the entire match”.
Nevertheless, Kelly was left out of the squad for the 1966 World Cup qualifiers.
Competing for a place with Pat Dunne and Noel Dwyer, by the end of the 1960s he could consider himself a fixture in the Republic’s line-up. He was one of the stars of a team that unfortunately failed to qualify for a major tournament.
Meanwhile his club was struggling and Preston dropped into the then third division, although the players fought back to win promotion at the first attempt in 1971.
The following year Kelly became the first goalkeeper to captain Ireland when he led the team out to face the USSR at Lansdowne Road.
His playing career came to a sudden end in September 1973 after a challenge during a match against Bristol City left him with a serious shoulder injury.
He joined Preston’s coaching staff and was appointed assistant manager under Nobby Stiles in 1977.
Appointed manager of Preston in 1983, he resigned two years later after a string of poor results.
He later became goalkeeping coach at Everton, a post he subsequently held at DC United in the US. He spent his final years in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
An honorary life president of Bray Wanderers, in 2001 he was honoured by Preston when the club named the Town End of its Deepdale stadium after him.
Divorced from his wife Mary, he is survived by his three sons Alan, Gary and David.
Alan also played in goal for Preston, and Sheffield United, and was capped on 22 occasions for Ireland; he is goalkeeping coach with the national squad. Gary, also a footballer, played for Newcastle, Bury and Oldham.
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Alan Kelly: born July 5th, 1936; died May 20th, 2009