| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sport | Gaelic football | ||
| Position | Left Corner-Forward | ||
| Born | Drogheda, County Louth | ||
| Nickname | Super | ||
| Club(s) | |||
| Years | Club | ||
1983–1987 1988–2001 2002–2009 | O'Raghallaighs Newtown Blues Dreadnots | ||
| Inter-county(ies) | |||
| Years | County | ||
1989–2002 | Louth | ||
Colin Kelly (born 1971) is a Gaelic football manager and former player from Drogheda, County Louth. He made 33 Championship appearances for the Louth senior football team between 1989 and 2002 [1] and is one of the Wee County's leading scorers of all-time.
Kelly played for his county as a 16 year-old in the 1987 Leinster Minor Football Championship. At the beginning of the 1988 season, he transferred from the O'Raghallaighs to another Drogheda club, Newtown Blues. [2] That same year he would win his first county senior championship medal, scoring four points for the Blues in a 0–7 to 1–03 defeat of Clan na Gael at Castlebellingham.
In February 1989 against Mayo while still attending secondary school, he made his competitive debut for the county senior team aged 17, in a National League Division 2 match played at St. Brigid's Park, Dowdallshill.
He received the Man of the Match award for his performance in the 2000 Louth SFC Final, when Newtown Blues defeated Stabannon Parnells. [3]
Kelly won his third senior championship medal with the Blues in 2001 with victory over Mattock Rangers. [4] By then resident in Clogherhead, he transferred to the local club Dreadnots for the start of the 2002 season. [5]
After retiring from inter-county football in 2002, Kelly was joint manager of the Louth Under-21s with Colm Nally and Niall O'Donnell for three seasons from 2003 to 2005.
In 2012, he managed the Under-21s to a first Leinster championship final in sixteen years, losing to Dublin. [6]
He later managed the Louth senior team for three years. [7] He led Louth to successive promotions in the National Football League in 2016 and 2017, though Louth did not make any championship impact during his time in charge. [7]
He was appointed Westmeath senior manager on a two-year term in late 2017 but left in mid-2018, citing family commitments. [8] [9]
He was appointed Wicklow senior manager in October 2021. [7] However, he left in March 2022, citing work commitments. [10]
At club level, Kelly was player-manager in 2008 when Dreadnots won the Louth Intermediate Championship. [11]