Neil Kelly

Neil Kelly (born 10 May 1962) is a former English rugby league coach and former professional player who was the head coach of Dewsbury Rams

Neil Kelly

Personal information
Born	(1962-05-10) 10 May 1962 (age 63) Wakefield, West Riding of Yorkshire, England
Playing information
Position	Loose forward, Hooker
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 1984–86 Dewsbury Rams 1985–86 Featherstone Rovers 1986–87 Wakefield Trinity ≥1987–≤89 Hunslet Hawks 1989–91 Dewsbury Rams Total 0 0 0 0 0
Coaching information
Rugby league
Club Years Team Gms W D L W% 1995–01 Dewsbury Rams 2001–04 Widnes Vikings 97 50 2 45 52 2008–10 Leigh Centurions 2017–18 Dewsbury Rams 2022 Cornwall RLFC 11 1 0 10 9 Total 108 51 2 55 47 Representative Years Team Gms W D L W% 2001–03 Wales 5 1 0 4 20
Rugby union
Club Years Team Gms W D L W% 2004–08 Ulster Rugby (defence) 2010 Doncaster R.F.C. (assistant) 2019–21 Houston SaberCats (defense) Total 0 0 0 0 Representative Years Team Gms W D L W% 2011 Namibia (assistant)
Source: [1][2]
Relatives	Andy Kelly (brother) Richard Kelly (brother)

He played club level rugby league for Dewsbury Rams (two spells), Featherstone Rovers, Wakefield Trinity and Hunslet Hawks as a hooker or loose forward, and coached representative level rugby league (RL) for Wales, and at club level for Dewsbury Rams, Widnes Vikings, Leigh Centurions, and coached representative level rugby union (RU) for Namibia (assistant), and at club level for Ulster Rugby (defence), and Doncaster Knights (assistant).

Coaching career

Leigh Centurions

On his return to England and Rugby League Neil spent two years as the head coach and then director of football at Leigh Centurions Rugby League Club, competing in the Co-Operative Rugby League Championship.^[3]

Ulster

Kelly spent two and a half years working as the defence coach for Ulster Rugby Union Club.^[4]

Widnes Vikings

Whilst at Widnes, the club won the Grand Final.^[5]

Dewsbury Rams

No promotion for Dewsbury after Grand Final win.^[6]

Cornwall RLFC

On 8 Dec 2021 it was announced that Neil had been appointed as head coach of new club Cornwall RLFC.^[7]

On 24 October 2022 it was announced that Neil's assistant Mike Abbott had taken over as head coach by mutual consent.^[8]

Genealogical information

Neil Kelly is one of three brothers to play professional Rugby League, Andrew "Andy" Kelly who played for Wakefield Trinity, Hull Kingston Rovers and Illawarra Steelers (Australia), and Richard Kelly who played for Wakefield Trinity and Dewsbury.