He may not have been an internationalist but Archie Kelly was one of the finest centre-forwards ever to represent Motherwell. Strong, fearless and with a bit of menace about him he was the type of forward the Fir Park faithful could easily take to in the 1950s. His record of 66 league goals in only 104 matches was certainly indication of his prowess around goal. Born in Paisley he joined Arthurlie and was a successful Junior player before moving to Hearts. He stayed just two seasons at Tynecastle but scored 17 goals in 34 matches and once famously scored 7 against Albion Rovers in a 10-3 thrashing. Equally famously he also cracked a goalpost when diving full length to execute a diving header. He moved on to Aberdeen and endured a fairly unhappy two seasons at Pittodrie before joining Motherwell on November 5, 1949. Such a date suggested fireworks and that was what Motherwell got.
Archie scored on his debut against Clyde and went on to win both League Cup and Scottish Cup winners’ medals medals at Fir Park. More so, he scored goals in both cup finals. There were other memorable Fir Park outings. He scored twice in the famous 4-0 rout of Rangers at Fir Park, and was a player in the 5-5 Scottish Cup draw at Pittodrie (Motherwell, the holders, lost the replay 6-1 at Fir Park.) He reminded Aberdeen of what they were missing by scoring 4 against them in 1950 for good measure. In 1953 he joined Stirling Albion and 2 years later signed for Ayr United. Ironically he joined the Honest Men in a bid to help their Scottish Cup aspirations but fell at the first hurdle to Inverness Caley. He finally brought the curtain down on his career with a stint at Cowdenbeath. Always a 100 per cent man, Archie was immensely popular at Fir Park and had he played in the modern game he would doubtless have kept everyone on their toes.
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Name:
|
Archibald Kelly |
|
Height:
|
5′ 9″ |
|
Weight:
|
11st |
|
Date of Birth:
|
9th December 1921 |
|
Place of Birth:
|
Paisley |
|
Position:
|
Forward |
|
Nationality:
|
Scottish |
Football Career:
| Arthurlie | – | 1946 |
| Hearts | 1946 | 1947 |
| Aberdeen | 1947 | 1949 |
| Motherwell | 1949 | 1953 |
| Stirling Albion | 1953 | 1954 |
| Ayr United | 1954 | 1955 |
| Cowdenbeath | 1955 | 1956 |
Well Career:
| Apps | Goals | |
|
League:
|
104 | 66 |
|
Scottish Cup:
|
20 | 11 |
|
League Cup:
|
28 | 18 |
|
Other:
|
0 | 0 |
|
Total:
|
152 | 95 |