From Buncrana to Bohs - The Rise of Georgie Kelly

He’s currently the top scorer in the League of Ireland Premier Division, recently joined a unique set of players in scoring twice in scoring on his home European debut in the Europa Conference League and this month was voted Soccer Writer’s Association Player of the Month for June.  

Buncrana’s Georgie Kelly is one of the most in form players in the league at the moment and here we take a closer look at the first player to compete in the Collingwood Cup, League of Ireland Underage system, First Division, Premier Division, Europa League, Europa Conference League and represent his country at both schools and colleges level.

In March 2012, Scoil Mhuire Buncrana- under the tutelage of Paddy Carr and current UCD assistant manager William O’Connor- reached the semi finals of the Umbro FAI Schools Dr Tony O’Neill All Ireland.

Kelly netted in the extra time defeat to Malahide Community School, however the following year both he and his teammates went a step further as they reached the Final.

Kelly scoring a brace in the semi final defeat of a Headford side which included current Galway Utd striker Padraic Cunningham. De La Salle Waterford, with Maurice Shanahan and Dessie Hutchinson on board defeated the men from Donegal.

For Kelly, his performances throughout the competition were enough to see him selected by the aforementioned O’Connor on the Ulster Provincial side for the second successive year- where he was joined by schoolmate and current Finn Harps midfielder Mark Coyle.

Once more, he performed well and was selected for Ollie Horgan's FAI Schools international side for 2013/14- a panel which included current senior international players Jamie McGrath and Ryan Manning.

Following the Centenary Shield competition in March and April 2014, Kelly was part of the Derry City U19s squad for the short 2014 season.

Teammates here included current senior international Ronan Curtis and Walsall's Rory Holden. For 2016 he joined UCD on a scholarship contract and scored in The Students' victorious Collingwood Cup Final of 2016.

He repeated the feat in 2017, however UCC took home the silverware on that occasion.

By the time the 2017 First Division kicked off, Kelly was firmly in place as their number one frontman. Following a total of 15 sub appearances- from which he scored once.

Kelly started the last four games of the 2016 season scoring twice. He ended up with 6 league goals for the season, scoring a range of finishes including headers, volleys and placed finishes.

In 2017 the scoring streak and variety of finishes continued with 17 league goals, of which only one was a spot kick.

Over half of the goals came in his four fixtures against Athlone- twice scoring hat tricks, a brace and a single goal making up his nine strikes against the Midlanders.

Kelly’s goalscoring feats weren’t restricted to UCD though, as he also found the net for the Irish Colleges and Universities in their win over the Defence Forces.

With 23 league goals across two seasons, the Donegal man was in demand throughout the League of Ireland and beyond as were many of his UCD teammates.

The Belfield outfit, under the guidance of Collie O’Neill and current Wexford boss Ian Ryan, played an expansive style of football with talented wingers in the shape of Jason McClelland (now at St Patrick’s Athletic), Neil Farrugia (Shamrock Rovers) and Daire O’Connor (once described as the Irish Messi) as well as a dynamic midfield of Gary O’Neill (Shamrock Rovers), Greg Sloggett (Dundalk).

In 2018, Kelly continued to thrive on the service provided by teammates such as the aforementioned- O’Neill providing assists for goals against Cobh, Finn Harps, Longford and Drogheda with McClelland also setting up the striker for efforts against both Longford and Athlone.

After 14 strikes in the opening half of the season, representing the Irish Colleges and Universities in their victory over France and finishing his degree in Commerce, Dundalk FC signed the striker and handed him the number 45 jersey.

With Patrick Hoban recognized as Dundalk’s main striker, Kelly was restricted primarily to substitute appearances and ended the season with two goals for the Lilywhites- both in the FAI Cup.

His second season at Dundalk saw him make 21 substitute appearances in the league, scoring four times as a replacement and another four as starter. Most of the finishes were from close range, his one headed goal of the season came against former side UCD.

In search of regular football, a loan move to St Patrick’s Athletic under former teammate Stephen O’Donnell was how Kelly began the 2020 season. He made 11 starts in the truncated season, recording 90 minutes on four occasions and netted three goals- all against Finn Harps.

On only four of his eleven starts, his former UCD teammate Jason McClelland also started and Kelly scored in two of these games, once courtesy of a McClelland assist.

Another former teammate, Robbie Benson, was responsible for setting up his first St Pat’s goal. Speaking with Irish Football Fan TV after the game, Kelly enthused about the pass and about Benson cutting inside the box with a reverse pass which the Donegal man passed into the net.

With a team full of young creative players and both recent centre forwards departing during the close season, Bohemians seemed a natural destination and it is here that he has continued to flourish in the 2021 season. Netting 12 league goals and twice in Europe, Georgie Kelly is the form striker in the League of Ireland Premier Division. What about his goals this season- what kind of strikes are they and why is he so prolific again?

Let’s take a closer look at these goals and see. His first league goal against Longford saw Kelly take a pass from Liam Burt, roll the covering defender before placing a shot beyond the goalkeeper. Goals two and three came from the penalty spot, against his former clubs Dundalk and Derry City respectively.

His fourth strike, the first of a hat trick against Dundalk, once more saw him roll the defender and convert a Tierney pass before his second on the night was a first time finish low after a one two with Liam Burt. His hat trick was a thumping header from an Ali Coote free kick.

His next four goals all came against Drogheda United- the first three all low finishes from Ross Tierney assists, the fourth a lobbed header from a deep Mallon free kick. Speaking with Bohemians media team on the 22nd of June, Kelly acknowledged the role Tierney was playing in his goal streak (accounting for 5 assists in Kelly’s opening 9 goals), “I find  getting easier to play with him because you know exactly what he’s going to do, what runs he’s going to make. Everything gets more cohesive as it goes on”.

Goal number eleven, the winner against Shamrock Rovers, was a trademark strike as he rolled his defender before shooting low to the net following a Liam Burt pass. His latest league goal, this time another former employer St Pat’s bearing the brunt of his goalscoring prowess, saw him net from close range as Ross Tierney’s header was blocked on the line.

All twelve of his league finishes have been inside the penalty area with only headers and one penalty not low finishes. Surrounded by the likes of Tierney, Burt and Dawson Devoy, Kelly is comfortable passing and receiving the ball to feet- according to data from Player Stat Data he attempts more than twice as many forward passes as the average for those in his position (337 v 140.22), twice as many successful passes  (226 v 102.52) while taking almost four times as many touches in the penalty area (76 v 20.3).

His most recent two strikes, against Stjarnan, were customary low finishes courtesy of passes from Dawson Devoy and Liam Burt. With 14 strikes so far this season and confidence high, the SWAI Player of the Month is still keeping his feet on the ground. Speaking with his club media on July 7th, he was cognisant of the part luck plays as a striker, “You go through barren spells and then you go through spells like this where you could score seven or eight and that’s the way it is.”

With Bohemians currently in Luxembourg preparing to face FC Dudelange, a side beaten by UCD in the summer of 2015, they’ll be hoping that their frontman continues his scoring streak on European soil.

According to an account in the book, One Night in Dudelange, a youth team player was almost left behind as The Students sought European advancement in 2015. This time it’s another one of their former charges who’ll be attempting to knock the Luxembourg outfit out of Europe and continue his, and his club’s European adventure.