The Irish international who went from a chocolate factory to Bayern Munich trials

The 42

02-06-2025

A GOOD pub quiz question for Irish soccer aficionados: can you name the nine Irish internationals who made the squad for all three tournaments that the team qualified for during the Jack Charlton era?
If you've already read the excerpt for this article, you might have guessed that David Kelly is one of them.
The other eight are Packie Bonner, Kevin Moran, Paul McGrath, Ronnie Whelan, Ray Houghton, John Aldridge, Tony Cascarino and John Sheridan.
Kelly is probably the least high-profile of that group, but his footballing story is as remarkable as any of them.
'How lucky I was to become a professional footballer is the overriding thought throughout the whole of my career,' Kelly tells The 42.
Nowadays, the most talented English-based footballers typically join the academies of top clubs before they are teenagers, with a minority going on to sustain a career.
Kelly's journey was the antithesis of that pathway. Until the age of 18, the striker was working as a trolley porter at Cadbury's chocolate factory in Bournville.
At the same time, the Birmingham-born star was playing non-league football with Alvechurch. His performances at this level attracted the attention of Walsall.
While starring for just over four seasons in English football's third tier, Kelly came onto the radar of Ireland boss Jack Charlton.
Kelly's father had moved across the water from Dublin in the early 1960s, not long before the future star was born in '65.
'The brothers and sisters all came over en masse,' he says. 'And everybody settled in Birmingham.'
The 59-year-old can still vividly recall the day he received news of his first call-up.
Kelly had been called into the England U21 squad earlier that month for a game against Czechoslovakia, but describes the decision on his international future as a 'no-brainer' once 'Big Jack' approached him in a smoky room at Millmoor, which was Rotherham United's ground at the time.
'Jack was there with [Ireland assistant boss] Maurice Setters,' Kelly remembers. 'He went: 'So you fancy coming and playing for me then, son?' I said: 'I'd absolutely love to, Jack.' I said: 'Can I ask a question?' 'Go on.'
''Is it the U21s, or the first team?' He said: 'It's the first team.' 'Am I going to play or will I be on the bench?' 'No, the plan is to play you.'
'I went: 'That'd be brilliant. I'd love to.' And that was the end of the conversation. He turned his back on me, carried on drinking his pint of bitter and smoking his cigar. He and Maurice just turned away from me, and that was the end of it. I just waited for probably five or 10 seconds and thought: 'Right, that's the end of that conversation, I need to go.''
Ireland manager Jack Charlton and assistant manager Maurice Setters (file pic). Billy Stickland / INPHO Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO
Kelly was still a Division Three player at the time, and some initially doubted the veracity of his claims of a call-up.
'I got back on the bus at Rotherham with all the Walsall players, and I can remember telling my mate Mark Rees that I'd just been picked for the Republic of Ireland, and nobody believed me. They thought I was telling porkies.'
His November 1987 debut in a friendly against Israel at Dalymount Park could not have gone much better.
Kelly hit a hat-trick for the Boys in Green, becoming just the fifth player to achieve that feat. To this day, post-war, there are only five others to emulate him — Don Givens, John Aldridge, David Connolly, Robbie Keane and Callum Robinson. His proud father was watching on, as were '1000 cousins, aunts and uncles that I'd never met before'. There were 16 brothers and sisters in his dad's family alone.
In a 10-year international career, though, Kelly admits he never felt like he was the first-choice striker.
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In the three tournaments Ireland qualified for, he made one appearance — coming off the bench in the 0-0 draw with Norway at USA '94.
But Kelly kept turning up regardless, ending his career with a creditable nine goals from 26 appearances — in the latest squad, Robbie Brady is the only player who has scored more (10 goals from 70 caps).
What encouraged him to show up for duty despite the sporadic game time was the squad camaraderie.
'Whoever came in, and I say this quite openly, there were no knobheads in the squad,' he says.
'I knew my place, and I knew there were quality people sometimes in front of me, but I was prepared to dig in and do my best at every opportunity I got.
'I played in the [League Cup] final for Tranmere against Leicester City. And I don't think I went to sleep for three days because I was that excited about playing at Wembley, and that was similar to being away with the Ireland team, because I didn't want to miss out on anything. If everybody was going out, or everybody was having a game of golf, or everybody was going for a drink, training, whatever, I wanted to be involved in all of it.'
Probably Kelly's most famous moment in an Irish jersey was scoring the opening goal in a notorious friendly against England at Lansdowne Road, which was abandoned when British hooligans began rioting in the stadium.
Kelly's personal feelings on the night are bittersweet. He describes it as one of the biggest disappointments of his career — the fact that potentially scoring the winning goal against the country of his birth was taken away from him.
'But in my house, I still scored that goal. So I still count it. And I will forever do that because, whether I'm remembered quite fondly by whoever, ultimately that was another international goal for me.'
Ireland's David Kelly scores a goal despite the efforts of Gary Pallister and goalkeeper David Seaman of England. James Meehan / INPHO James Meehan / INPHO / INPHO
The former star these days sees some of his old Ireland teammates now and then. They all met up to celebrate the 35th anniversary of Italia '90 earlier this year, while he will also run into some familiar faces at various English grounds, as he frequently commentates for BBC Radio West Midlands.
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Kelly's career as a footballer was all the more extraordinary when you consider the trajectory of his childhood.
He suffered from Legg–Calvé–Perthes disease, a hip disorder.
It meant that at one point, his left leg was four inches shorter than the right one, and he was confined to crutches until around the age of 10.
'It didn't stop me playing football on crutches when I was five, six, seven and eight, I was just a little bit different.
'I was pretty good with four legs…. Well, three and a half.
'We're all built very differently, and we all cope with different stresses at different points in all of our lives and stuff.
'I was a really happy kid. I was happy living in Weoley Castle when I was a child. My family were great. And I was playing football from the age of 10 for four different teams, four days a week. Because that's what I wanted to be, a professional footballer.
'Once I got into the last year of primary, I was up and running properly. And then when I went to senior school at 11, I played everything — basketball, cricket, rugby, squash, tennis, anything that was available.
'If you're determined enough, then your obstacles are there to be jumped over, aren't they?'
In this context, Kelly's 18-year career as a professional looks even more impressive. And it might have been even better had a move to German giants Bayern Munich come to fruition.
'My agent, Dennis Roach, had a friend over at Bayern. Walsall permitted me to go because I was out of contract a couple of weeks later, and I had a trial game with the reserves versus the first team.
'I scored quite a lot of goals when I was playing. I scored a hat trick in the first game. And they offered me a contract.
'But the problem was, back in the day, there were only two foreign players allowed at each club. And they had already got their quota. So they wanted me to sign for Bayern, and then I would be loaned out to another German team until they got rid of somebody. And then I would go back to Bayern a couple of months later.
'The rules were completely different back in the day, and I just couldn't see where going over there and then not playing for the team that you signed him for was the best idea. So I ended up going to West Ham.'
David Kelly pictured during his time with Derry City. INPHO INPHO
Perhaps fittingly, Kelly's final game as a professional came on Irish soil.
'I went from Motherwell to Mansfield, then to Derry City within the space of about six months. I was trying to convince myself I was still okay to play, but it wasn't the case. I should have made the decision myself to retire, but I was so keen to continue playing.
'Jim Roddy, who was the owner of Derry, was a friend of a friend, and he asked me to go over and play.
'I said to him: 'If I can get a coaching job, I need you to shake my hand and say: 'Thanks ever so much. We'll just rip the contract up.' Take into consideration that I hadn't done any coaching badges or anything up to that point.
'I had played with Ray Mathias. He was [previously] part of John Aldridge's staff. He got the Tranmere job and invited me to go over, and Jim Roddy, bless him, released me from my contract.'
The Derry stint lasted only a couple of months, but the veteran striker ended on a high note, playing in the 2002 FAI Cup final 1-0 win over Shamrock Rovers at Tolka Park.
The fact that Kelly featured at all was a minor miracle. He was already coaching at Tranmere, who allowed him to return for this climactic encounter.
He was due to travel from Birmingham on the morning of the final. After waiting for around three hours at the airport, his flight was cancelled.
Kelly then proceeded to drive to Heathrow Airport — a distance of more than 100 miles — and fly to Dublin from London.
'I got there [to Heathrow] at 11.20, breaking a few speed limits on the way,' Kelly later told The Irish Independent.
'There, the girl on the desk told me a flight had just gone, but I found out that it was delayed and it wasn't going until 12.35. I thought: 'Great, I've got enough time to be at the ground an hour before kick off.'
'We got into Dublin at 1.40 only to be told there was no space at the airport to dock and we had to wait on the side of the runway for 20 minutes. I eventually got out of the airport after two o'clock, and two garda motorcyclists got me to the ground in 10 minutes. It was fantastic, like being with the Irish team again.'
Since then, Kelly has worked many jobs in football — invariably as an assistant manager.
Billy Davies, Dean Smith and Mark Robins are among the bosses he has coached alongside, while he was recently Troy Deeney's number two at Forest Green Rovers.
While happy doing his radio work, Kelly is open to a return to coaching and says the League of Ireland would be of interest should an opportunity become available, citing the 'improved standard' compared to his time as a player there.
'I've applied for a few managerial jobs, not been able to get them, but such is life; there are lots of candidates out there. So again, going back to how I'm built, you move on and do something else.
'I've been an assistant to fabulous managers, some massive characters. We've been hired and fired on numerous occasions at different places.
'But I'm blessed by the fact that everybody that I've got involved with and work with, I'm still friends with to this day, so I'd like to get back in. But if I can't, I can't, that's part of life.'