AMBITION HAS ALWAYS driven Alan Kelly throughout his career.
It is also one of the major factors behind the decision to uproot his young family and move to the US.
Growing up in Cork, his boyhood dream was similar to so many others in that he fancied a career in professional football. At schoolboy level Avondale were his team before going on to feature in Munster Senior League and with Cork City’s reserves.
At 18, however, the defender picked up an injury that would see him sidelined for a couple of months. He may not have known it at the time, but the decision to sit a referee beginners course would eventually result in him realising his ambition — albeit as a ‘man in black’.
Given his family background, a career officiating the game rather than playing in it shouldn’t have come as much of a surprise. Grandfather Tim was a League of Ireland referee as was his father Pat, who took charge of two FAI Cup finals — an achievement his son would go on to emulate.
That said, Kelly says he was never pushed into following in their footsteps.
“Playing was always what I wanted to do,” Kelly told The Score this week. “I was playing a semi-decent level at youth level. While I got injured, I was out for a couple of months and signed up for the course just to do it.
“That was it. I went back and played for a little bit but I had been bitten by the bug. There was no pressure from my dad or that but it was in my head and when I returned to playing I wasn’t able to kick and chase as much. Not that I stopped enjoying playing but I just didn’t have the same buzz as I did before the injury.”
Beginning in Cork’s schoolboy leagues, Kelly swiftly worked his way up the ladder and joined the newly-formed FAI School of Excellence. He recalls getting a late call-up to make his League of Ireland bow in 1999.
“I wasn’t even on the League of Ireland panel at that time but was launched in as an assistant referee or a linesman as we were called then. We were down in Buckley Park in Kilkenny and there was a chap, I think his name was Paul Mooney, who got injured the night before a Premier Division game between Kilkenny City and St Pat’s.
Now 38, Kelly is widely-regarded as the country’s top referee. As well as featuring in several high profile internationals, he was also officiated in European competitions including the coveted Champions League.
When the current domestic season draws to a close in two weeks, however, Kelly will wave goodbye ahead of a switch Stateside. With a wife who has her own career in Ireland and two young kids, the decision was not taken lightly but his thirst for a new challenge proved too great.
Once myself and my wife had discussed all the pros and cons, we believed that it was the right decision,” he explains. ”It’s a brave one but we’re confident that it’s the right one from a professional and personal point of view.
“I’ve grown up with LOI football in my blood. There’s a well-documented family history there. But the more my career took off, I looked at the possibility of going to the UK.
“That was never really a runner because there was too much red tape involved. I didn’t think the opportunity to work in a full-time refereeing environment would present itself.
“I was very happy to operate from an international point of view within UEFA. I generally thought that was the way it would go until I asked that question myself last year.”
The question he refers to was put to former Premier League referee and current head of PRO, the independent company charged with improved the refereeing standards in the US, Peter Walton.
Kelly put the feelers out about any possible opportunities in America and, backed by his vast experience, has been appointed as their new assistant training and development manager on a two-year deal with the option of a one-year rolling contract when that expires.
His job will involve promoting the structures that PRO are trying to implement with the aim of improving the standard of refereeing across the country. And although he can’t yet give any details away, Kelly also intends to continue refereeing with the aim of working alongside the likes of Ireland captain Robbie Keane in the MLS.
One of the many perks is that he has the choice of living wherever he chooses as there will be a considerable amount of travelling involved.
Although the constant sunshine in a state like California would be a pull for most, Kelly says he wants to be one flight away from Ireland so Boston, Chicago and New York are all on the cards.
“We haven’t set ourselves an area yet but we’re researching them all. It would be great to think that you could move to the west coast and have glorious weather but that’s not the be-all and end-all from a logistical point of view.”
He is expected at a pre-season camp in Florida at the end of January so has about three months to get everything in order. And while he is involved in Champions League action this coming week and could possibly be called up again before the Christmas break, games in the domestic league are running out.
Having reffed Limerick’s win over Shelbourne last Wednesday, he wasn’t in action over the weekend. A final Premier Division match outing is surely on the cards in the last round of fixtures and then there is always the FAI Cup final .
Kelly was lucky enough to take charge in 2003 and 2009 and while he admits that it would be a fitting send-off, he has no idea whether get the nod for the meeting of Sligo Rovers and Drogheda on 3 November.
“I wouldn’t say no to a cup final but that’s not my decision. It doesn’t matter from my point of view where the last game is. I’ve had some really good experiences all over the country. Some good experiences and some not so good ones.
“There is something about League of Ireland grounds with their atmosphere. They are small, compact, the crowd is on top of you and that is something that I will absolutely miss.”
Q&A – How has refereeing changed in Ireland since you started?
When I came into the league in 1999, the mindset in relation to refereeing was beginning to change. The introduction of the school of excellence and an injection of younger referees onto the LOI panel brought different things.
From a fitness point of view, there had been a small emphasis on it before but it really changed to where it is now. There were younger, ambitious people on the panel. The likes of Ian Stokes, Padraig Sutton, Derek Tomney and Neil Doyle.
We wanted to make a mark in the league and had ambitions to reach the international panel. That was the whole reason for bringing young people in — to give us more of an opportunity to progress at an international level.
From what it was then to what it is now is completely different. There is very much a professional mentality now in everything that we do: from the way we train to the way we conduct ourselves off the pitch, to the whole area of nutrition.
We’re full-time in everything bar name in terms of time that goes into it. It’s very much a professional set-up now and I don’t mean to be disrespectful to the way it was before but that is just how it has evolved. Not just in Ireland but around the world.
Kelly talking to Pepe during a World Cup qualifier between Portugal and Malta. Credit: Paulo Duarte/AP/Press Association Images
What are your favourite refereeing memories?
There are lots of stand-out memories. My first League of Ireland game is one. The FAI Cup final is always an ambition and I’ve been lucky to have done two. In terms of career goals, making the international list is one, as is making the Champions League.
The Spain-Argentina game in Madrid back in 2009 in a senior friendly was a stand-out game. Real Madrid in the Champions League also. If I finished my career tomorrow I’d look back at that game in 20 years time with the fondest of memories.
It wouldn’t matter if it was in the back-end of nowhere or in one of the biggest stadiums in Europe– refereeing the Champions League is the ultimate experience. It’s the best club competition in the world.
