Neil Kelly

Professional Rugby League & Union coach & former rugby league footballer

Neil Kelly

Personal information

Born

(1962-05-10) 10 May 1962 (age 61)
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	28	14	1	13	50
2008–10	Leigh Centurions
2017–18	Dewsbury Rams
2022	Cornwall RLFC	11	1	0	10	9
	Total	39	15	1	23	38
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]

Neil Kelly (born 10 May 1962) is an English rugby league coach and former professional player who was the head coach of Cornwall RLFC.

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.

References

^ "Neil Kelly – Career Stats & Summary – Rugby League Project". Rugby League Project.
^ "Neil Kelly – Summary – Rugby League Project". Rugby League Project.
^ "sportinglife.com".
^ "irishrugby.ie".
^ Guardian Staff (29 July 2001). "Widnes show they are ready to assume rightful place". The Guardian.
^ "Dewsbury fear being denied promotion". The Independent. 30 July 2000. Archived from the original on 18 June 2022.
^ "Neil Kelly: Cornwall RLFC appoint ex-Widnes coach for inaugural season". BBC Sport. 8 December 2021. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
^ "Mike Abbott replaces Neil Kelly as Cornwall head coach". BBC Sport. 24 October 2022. Retrieved 25 October 2022.

Coaching positions
v t e Dewsbury Rams coaches
Joe Lyman (1934) Eddie Waring (1940-44) Vic Hey (1944-47) Leonard Constance (1951) Bert Cook (1958) Les Pearce (197?-??) Maurice Bamford (1974) Alan Hardisty (1974–75) Dave Cox (1975–77) Ron Hill (1977) Lewis Jones (1977–78) Jeff Grayshon (1978) Alan Lockwood (1978–80) Bernard Watson (1980–82) Ray Abbey (1982–83) Tommy Smales (1983–84) Jack Addy (1984–87) David Busfield (1987) Terry Crook (1987–88) Maurice Bamford (1988–90) Jack Addy (1990–93) Norman Smith (1993–95) Tony Fisher (1995–96) Neil Kelly (1996–2000) Roy Sampson (2000–02) Andy Fisher (2002–03) Andy Kelly (2003–08) Warren Jowitt (2008–12) Glenn Morrison (2012–17) Neil Kelly (2017–18) Lee Greenwood (2019–21) Paul Sykes 2022 Liam Finn (2022-23) Dale Ferguson (2024-present)

Coaching positions

Dewsbury Rams coaches

Joe Lyman (1934)
Eddie Waring (1940-44)
Vic Hey (1944-47)
Leonard Constance (1951)
Bert Cook (1958)
Les Pearce (197?-??)
Maurice Bamford (1974)
Alan Hardisty (1974–75)
Dave Cox (1975–77)
Ron Hill (1977)
Lewis Jones (1977–78)
Jeff Grayshon (1978)
Alan Lockwood (1978–80)
Bernard Watson (1980–82)
Ray Abbey (1982–83)
Tommy Smales (1983–84)
Jack Addy (1984–87)
David Busfield (1987)
Terry Crook (1987–88)
Maurice Bamford (1988–90)
Jack Addy (1990–93)
Norman Smith (1993–95)
Tony Fisher (1995–96)
Neil Kelly (1996–2000)
Roy Sampson (2000–02)
Andy Fisher (2002–03)
Andy Kelly (2003–08)
Warren Jowitt (2008–12)
Glenn Morrison (2012–17)
Neil Kelly (2017–18)
Lee Greenwood (2019–21)
Paul Sykes 2022
Liam Finn (2022-23)
Dale Ferguson (2024-present)

v t e Widnes Vikings coaches
Thomas Shannon (1949-5?) Joe Egan (1964) Vince Karalius (1972–75) Frank Myler (1975–78) Doug Laughton (1978–83) Harry Dawson & Colin Tyrer (1983) Vince Karalius & Harry Dawson (1983–84) Eric Hughes (1984–86) Doug Laughton (1986–91) Frank Myler (1991–92) Phil Larder (1992–94) Tony Myler (1994–95) Doug Laughton (1995–97) Graeme West (1997–98) Colin Whitfield (1998–2000) David Hulme (2000–01) Neil Kelly (2001–04) Stuart Spruce (2004) Frank Endacott (2004–05) Steve McCormack (2005–09) John Stankevitch (2009) Paul Cullen (2009–10) Denis Betts (2010–18) Francis Cummins (2018) Keiron Purtill (2018–19) Tim Sheens (2019–20) Simon Finnigan (2020–22) Ryan O'Brien (interim) (2022) John Kear (2022–23) Neil Belshaw (interim) (2023) Allan Coleman (2023-)

Widnes Vikings coaches

Thomas Shannon (1949-5?)
Joe Egan (1964)
Vince Karalius (1972–75)
Frank Myler (1975–78)
Doug Laughton (1978–83)
Harry Dawson & Colin Tyrer (1983)
Vince Karalius & Harry Dawson (1983–84)
Eric Hughes (1984–86)
Doug Laughton (1986–91)
Frank Myler (1991–92)
Phil Larder (1992–94)
Tony Myler (1994–95)
Doug Laughton (1995–97)
Graeme West (1997–98)
Colin Whitfield (1998–2000)
David Hulme (2000–01)
Neil Kelly (2001–04)
Stuart Spruce (2004)
Frank Endacott (2004–05)
Steve McCormack (2005–09)
John Stankevitch (2009)
Paul Cullen (2009–10)
Denis Betts (2010–18)
Francis Cummins (2018)
Keiron Purtill (2018–19)
Tim Sheens (2019–20)
Simon Finnigan (2020–22)
Ryan O'Brien (interim) (2022)
John Kear (2022–23)
Neil Belshaw (interim) (2023)
Allan Coleman (2023-)

v t e Leigh Leopards coaches
Jim Jolley (c1910-??) Emlyn Jenkins (1946–47) Laurie Higgins (1947) Jack Miller (1948) Emlyn Jenkins (1948–50) Joe Egan (1950–56) Jack Helme (1956–58) Peter Foster (1958–59) Don Gullick (1959–60) Jack Helme (1960–62) Alan Prescott (1962–64) Gerry Helme (1964–66) Alex Murphy (1966–71) Peter Smethurst (1971) Derek Hurt (1971–72) Les Pearce (1972–74) Eddie Cheetham (1974–75) Kevin Ashcroft (1975–77) Bill Kindon (1977) John Mantle (1977–78) Tommy Grainey (1978–80) Alex Murphy (1980–82) Colin Clarke (1982) Peter Smethurst (1982–83) Tommy Bishop (1983–84) John Woods (1984–85) Alex Murphy (1985) Tommy Dickens (1985–86) Billy Benyon (1986–90) Alex Murphy (1990–91) Kevin Ashcroft (1991–92) Jim Crellin (1992) Steve Simms (1992–94) Denis Ramsdale (1994) Ian Lucas (1994–96) Eric Hughes (1996) Keith Latham (1996–98) Norman Turley (1998) Ian Millward (1998–2000) Paul Terzis (2000–03) Darren Abram (2003–05) Tony Benson (2005–06) Darren Shaw (2006–08) Neil Kelly (2008–09) Paul Rowley (2009) Ian Millward (2009–11) Paul Rowley (2012–16) Neil Jukes (2016–18) Kieron Purtill (2018–19) John Duffy (2019–21) Kurt Haggerty (2021) Adrian Lam (2022–)

Leigh Leopards coaches

Jim Jolley (c1910-??)
Emlyn Jenkins (1946–47)
Laurie Higgins (1947)
Jack Miller (1948)
Emlyn Jenkins (1948–50)
Joe Egan (1950–56)
Jack Helme (1956–58)
Peter Foster (1958–59)
Don Gullick (1959–60)
Jack Helme (1960–62)
Alan Prescott (1962–64)
Gerry Helme (1964–66)
Alex Murphy (1966–71)
Peter Smethurst (1971)
Derek Hurt (1971–72)
Les Pearce (1972–74)
Eddie Cheetham (1974–75)
Kevin Ashcroft (1975–77)
Bill Kindon (1977)
John Mantle (1977–78)
Tommy Grainey (1978–80)
Alex Murphy (1980–82)
Colin Clarke (1982)
Peter Smethurst (1982–83)
Tommy Bishop (1983–84)
John Woods (1984–85)
Alex Murphy (1985)
Tommy Dickens (1985–86)
Billy Benyon (1986–90)
Alex Murphy (1990–91)
Kevin Ashcroft (1991–92)
Jim Crellin (1992)
Steve Simms (1992–94)
Denis Ramsdale (1994)
Ian Lucas (1994–96)
Eric Hughes (1996)
Keith Latham (1996–98)
Norman Turley (1998)
Ian Millward (1998–2000)
Paul Terzis (2000–03)
Darren Abram (2003–05)
Tony Benson (2005–06)
Darren Shaw (2006–08)
Neil Kelly (2008–09)
Paul Rowley (2009)
Ian Millward (2009–11)
Paul Rowley (2012–16)
Neil Jukes (2016–18)
Kieron Purtill (2018–19)
John Duffy (2019–21)
Kurt Haggerty (2021)
Adrian Lam (2022–)

v t e Wales national rugby league team coaches
Les Pearce (1975) David Watkins (1976-77) Bill Francis & John Mantle (1978) Kel Coslett (1978-81) David Watkins (1982-85) Clive Griffiths (1991-00) Neil Kelly (2001-03) Stuart Wilkinson (2004) Martin Hall (2005-07) John Dixon (2008) Iestyn Harris (2009-13) John Kear (2014-present)