Jeremy Kelly (born October 21, 1997) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a defender for EFL League One club Crawley Town.

Jeremy Kelly
Kelly with Crawley Town in July 2024
Personal information
Date of birth (1997-10-21) October 21, 1997 (age 27)
Place of birth Prague, Czech Republic
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Defender, midfielder
Team information
Current team
Crawley Town
Number 19
Youth career
2003–2008 Racing Club de Fontainebleau
2008–2012 Triangle United
2013–2016 Carolina RailHawks
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2019 North Carolina Tar Heels 79 (0)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016 Carolina RailHawks 1 (0)
2018 San Francisco City 3 (0)
2019 North Carolina FC U23 5 (0)
2020–2021 Colorado Rapids 8 (0)
2021Phoenix Rising (loan) 5 (0)
2022–2023 Memphis 901 67 (11)
2024 FC Tulsa 0 (0)
2024– Crawley Town 34 (2)
International career
2016 United States U20 2 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 00:14, 17 November 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of December 22, 2016

Youth

edit

Kelly signed an amateur contract with Carolina RailHawks on March 17, 2016.[1] His amateur status would allow him to play college soccer for North Carolina Tar Heels when their college season began later in the year.[2]

Kelly played four years at UNC, starting 59 of his 79 appearances and tallying one goals and 2 assists. Kelly was an obstacle to the UNC's midfield en route to consecutive NCAA College Cup appearances. He was a second-team All-ACC selection in his senior year.[3]

Professional

edit

Colorado Rapids

edit

On January 9, 2020, Kelly was selected ninth overall in the 2020 MLS SuperDraft by Montreal Impact. His rights were then immediately traded to Colorado Rapids in exchange for $75,000 of General Allocation Money and the Rapids natural first round selection.[4]

On February 25, 2020, the Rapids officially announced the signing of Kelly to an initial one-year contract.[5] He made his MLS debut against Real Salt Lake in the MLS is Back Tournament on July 12, 2020.[6] Kelly recorded his first career assist during a 5–0 win versus Real Salt Lake on Sept. 12.[7] He finished his rookie season with one assist in 246 minutes played across eight appearances at right back, two of them starts.[8] In March 2021, Kelly joined Phoenix Rising FC on loan for the 2021 season.[9]

On July 1, 2021, Kelly was recalled from loan by the Rapids.[10] Following the 2021 season, Colorado opted to decline their contract option on Kelly.[11]

Memphis 901

edit

On February 18, 2022, he signed with USL Championship club Memphis 901.[12] He left Memphis following the 2023 season.[13]

Crawley Town

edit

Kelly joined FC Tulsa on January 5, 2024,[14] but Kelly and Tulsa mutually agreed on a termination of his contract a month later.[15] On February 1, 2024, Kelly signed for EFL League Two club Crawley Town on a deal until summer 2024.[16] He made his debut for the club as a substitute in a 1–0 defeat to Crewe Alexandra on February 10.[17] Kelly appeared in all three of Crawley's League Two play-off matches at the end of the 2023–24 as Crawley were promoted to League One after a 2–0 victory over Crewe Alexandra in the final.[17][18]

International

edit

Kelly was named to Tab Ramos' U.S. U-20 squad for camp and two friendlies against New York Cosmos and New York Red Bulls II in July 2016.[19] Kelly scored in stoppage time to defeat NYRBII.[20]

Kelly was born in Prague in the Czech Republic, and lived in France until he was 10 years old. He later moved to North Carolina[21]

Career statistics

edit
As of match played 12 October 2024
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] League cup[b] Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Carolina RailHawks 2016[22] NASL 1 0 1 0 2 0
San Francisco City 2018[23] USL PDL 3 0 3 0
North Carolina FC U23 2019[24] USL League Two 5 2 5 2
Colorado Rapids 2020[25] Major League Soccer 8 0 8 0
2021[25] Major League Soccer 0 0 0 0
Total 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 0
Phoenix Rising FC (loan) 2021[26] USL Championship 5 0 5 0
Memphis 901 2022[25] USL Championship 34 8 1 0 2[c] 0 37 8
2023[25] USL Championship 33 3 3 1 1[c] 0 37 4
Total 67 11 4 1 0 0 3 0 74 12
Crawley Town 2023–24[17] EFL League Two 18 1 3[d] 0 21 1
2024–25[27] EFL League One 10 1 0 0 2 0 1 0 13 1
Total 28 2 0 0 2 0 4 0 34 2
Career total 117 15 5 1 2 0 7 0 131 16
  1. ^ Includes US Open Cup, FA Cup
  2. ^ Includes EFL Cup
  3. ^ a b Appearance(s) in USL Championship Playoffs
  4. ^ Appearance(s) in EFL League Two play-offs

Honors

edit

Crawley Town

References

edit
  1. ^ "Capital Area RailHawks Academy U-18 Captain Signs Amateur Contract". Archived from the original on August 6, 2016. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
  2. ^ "Signing Day For UNC Men's Soccer". February 3, 2016.
  3. ^ "Jeremy Kelly".
  4. ^ "Rapids snag Jeremy Kelly, Robin Afamefuna in exciting first day of 2020 SuperDraft | Colorado Rapids".
  5. ^ "Colorado Rapids Sign Top-10 SuperDraft Pick Jeremy Kelly". coloradorapids.com. February 25, 2020.
  6. ^ "Real Salt Lake vs. Colorado Rapids | Colorado Rapids MatchCenter Boxscore". MLSsoccer.com MatchCenter.
  7. ^ "MLS Match Center".
  8. ^ "Jeremy Kelly".
  9. ^ "JEREMY KELLY AND ANDRE RAWLS JOIN RISING ON SEASON-LONG LOAN". phxrisingfc.com. March 24, 2021. Archived from the original on April 13, 2021. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
  10. ^ "Defender Jeremy Kelly Recalled from Phoenix Rising FC". Colorado Rapids. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
  11. ^ "Rapids Announce 2021 Year-End Roster Updates".
  12. ^ "Graham Smith Highlights Three Arrivals for 901 FC". Memphis 901 FC.
  13. ^ "Memphis 901 FC Announces Initial Roster Moves Following 2023 Season". Memphis 901 FC.
  14. ^ Murray, Nicholas (January 5, 2024). "Jeremy Kelly makes move to FC Tulsa". USLChampionship.com. USL Championship. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
  15. ^ "FC Tulsa Announces Roster Update". FC Tulsa. Retrieved February 9, 2024.
  16. ^ "Jeremy Kelly makes a trip over the pond to join the Reds". Crawley Town F.C. Retrieved August 11, 2024.
  17. ^ a b c "Games played by Jeremy Kelly in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved August 11, 2024.
  18. ^ a b "Crawley Town 2–0 Crewe Alexandra: Line-ups". BBC Sport. May 19, 2024. Retrieved May 20, 2024.
  19. ^ "Ramos calls in 20 players for U20 MNT camp".
  20. ^ "U.S. U-20 MNT defeats New York Red Bulls II". August 9, 2016.
  21. ^ "Jeremy Kelly - Men's Soccer". University of North Carolina Athletics.
  22. ^ "Jeremy Kelly | NASL". www.nasl.com. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  23. ^ "San Francisco City FC - 2018 Regular Season - Roster - # - Jeremy Kelly -". uslleaguetwo.com. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  24. ^ https://www.uslleaguetwo.com/roster_players/33583537 [bare URL]
  25. ^ a b c d Jeremy Kelly at Soccerway. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  26. ^ "Jeremy Kelly USL". uslchampionship.com. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
  27. ^ "Games played by Jeremy Kelly in 2024/2025". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved August 11, 2024.
edit