- Eddie Kelly
Edward Patrick "Eddie" Kelly (born
February 7 ,1951 inGlasgow ) is a Scottish former football player.Kelly played for local side Possilpark, before moving south to join English club Arsenal as an apprentice in July 1966; he turned professional 18 months later. A regular in the reserves and for Scotland U-23 side, he made his debut for Arsenal on
September 6 ,1969 against Sheffield Wednesday and quickly made a name for himself; he made 16 appearances in the 1969-70 season, including scoring a goal in the Gunners' 4-3 aggregate win over Anderlecht in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup final.Better was to come the next season for the young central
midfield er. Kelly made 34 appearances as Arsenal wonthe Double ; he came on as asubstitute in theFA Cup final against Liverpool, and scored the Gunners' equaliser inextra time in a goalmouth scramble (George Graham made a claim for the goal, but the replays show Kelly was the last Arsenal player to touch the ball); Kelly was the first substitute ever to score in a Cup final.Charlie George scored soon after to win the match 2-1.Injury hampered Kelly's next two seasons at Arsenal, but he became a near-ever present in 1974-75, and was made club captain at the age of 23 (only Tony Adams has captained Arsenal at a younger age). However, Kelly lost his place the following season and became quite unsettled; after making a transfer request, he joined Queens Park Rangers in September 1976, having played 222 times for Arsenal.
Kelly spent only a single season at QPR before being signed for Leicester City by former Arsenal teammate
Frank McLintock in the summer of 1977. He spent three seasons atFilbert Street , playing 119 times and scoring 3 goals; Leicester were relegated to the Second Division in 1979 but then returned back to the top flight as champions the following year. He went on to have short spells at Notts County, Bournemouth and Torquay United, before retiring. He now lives inTorquay , and works for adouble glazing firm.
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