Alan Kelly Senior 1936 - 2009

Alan James Alexander Kelly was born in Dublin on 5 July 1936 and started his career in Ireland with Cualann Rovers, Dargle Rovers, Bray Wanderers and joined Dumcondra in 1956. It was with Dumcondra where he won an FAI cup-winners' medal in 1957 when they beat Shamrock Rovers 2-0 in the Final.

In April 1958 Alan Kelly joined Preston and made his debut in the 1960/61 season. His first game was on 28 January 1960 in an FA Cup Fourth Round tie at Swansea, which the home side won 2-1. It was a late decision to play him following the illness to regular goalkeeper Fred Else and managed to arrive at the ground 90 minutes before the start of the match. He was driven there by supporter Jack Whalley who had set off at 7am.

He made his league debut four days later at Hillsborough and a total two league appearances in goal which ended as the only two in the top division. Both matches ended in large defeats away from home as Preston lost 5-1 at Sheffield Wednesday and 5-0 to Tottenham.

Following the departure of Fred Else to Blackburn for £17,000 in August 1961, Kelly got the goalkeeping jersey and kept in for the next 13 seasons. With George Ross and Alan Spavin they saw the trials and tribulations of being the only three players to play in the top three divisions of English Football with Preston.

He was the goalkeeper in the 1964 FA Cup Final as the Lilywhites lost 3-2 with an injury time goal.

The four seasons between 1966/67 to 1969/70 Kelly only missed five league matches and was an ever present in the Third Division Championship side of 1970/71.

His last appearance for Preston was on 15 September 1973 when he suffered a shoulder injury in the match at Deepdale against Bristol City. He worked hard to regain his fitness but it was to no avail. Ultimately he suffered a loss of power in his right hand and had to learn to write with his left.

Alan Kelly was capped 47 times for Ireland between 1958 and 1973, of which 45 was whilst he was with Preston. He made his international debut against England in a 5-1 defeat at Wembley and is the most capped goalkeeper behind Paddy Bonner. He also captained his country for a 1972 World Cup qualifier against the Soviet Union

In total Alan Kelly made a total of 511 appearances for Preston, a total of 447 league appearances, including 126 clean sheets, with a further 35 FA Cup and 29 League Cup appearances. He still leads the all-time appearance list for Preston, although he may get overtaken in the 2009/10 season by Paul McKenna.

Following his retirement in 1974 he joined North Ends coaching staff and was promoted to Assistant Manager under Nobby Stiles in 1977.

In 1980 he briefly managed the Republic of Ireland side, presiding over one match against Switzerland.

In December 1983 he was appointed manager of Preston and managed to steer the club away from relegation in his first season as the club finished in sixteenth position in Division Three. Following a bad run of results over the Christmas period he resigned in February 1985 to end his 27 years association with Preston. His managerial record for Preston was played 71, won 23, drawn 13 and lost 35.

He joined the coaching staff at Everton and later moved to America where he became goalkeeping coach for DC United. He was also involved in Washington area youth soccer programs and helped operate the Corner Kick indoor facility in Montgomery County and oversaw DC United's keepers from 1996 through to 2001.

In December 2001 he returned to Deepdale as guest of honour for the opening of the Alan Kelly Town End stand.

Two of his sons became goalkeepers in the football league and internationally for Ireland, with Alan Junior making 164 appearances for Preston.

He underwent emergency surgery for colon cancer in March 2008 and passed away at the age of 72 at lunchtime on Wednesday 20 May 2009 in America.