Liam Kelly

Reading

Kelly was born and raised in Basingstoke, and joined the Reading academy aged eight. In November 2013, Kelly signed his first professional contract with Reading, having previously attracted attention on YouTube for scoring impressive goals. He was part of the Reading team that won the 2013–14 Under-21 Premier League Cup, having started for Reading in the second leg of the final. On 12 February 2016, Kelly joined Bath City on an initial one-month loan, and made his debut for the club the following day by starting in a 1–1 National League South draw with Sutton United. He scored the first goal of his loan spell on 5 March, with a "curled" shot into the top corner to equalise in a 1–1 draw away to Oxford City. His loan at Bath was twice extended, initially for another month on 11 March, before it was extended until the end of the season on 10 April 2016. Kelly scored 6 times in 16 league matches for Bath, including a brace of penalties in a 3–0 win over Hayes & Yeading United in the penultimate match of the season to ensure that Bath avoided relegation, with Bath ultimately finishing 14th. In May 2016, Kelly signed a two-year contract with Reading. Following the appointment of Jaap Stam as Reading manager in June 2016, who favoured a possession-based style of play, Kelly began to establish himself as a regular first-team player. He made his debut for Reading on 23 August 2016 at home to Milton Keynes Dons in the EFL Cup, though was substituted off for George…

Though born in England, Kelly is also eligible to represent the Republic of Ireland in international football due to his Irish-born grandparents. Kelly made his Republic of Ireland under-19 debut against Slovenia under-19 in September 2013, and made 4 appearances in total for the under-19 team. His only goal for the under-19 team came against Sweden under-19 in October 2013, where Kelly scored from the halfway line. Kelly made his debut and only appearance for the Republic of Ireland under-21 team against United States under-20 in November 2014. Kelly received his first call-up for the Republic of Ireland senior team on 13 March 2017, being named in a 39-man provisional squad for matches against Wales and Iceland. However, he rejected a call-up to the Republic of Ireland senior squad in March 2018; Ireland manager Martin O'Neill suggested to the media that Kelly turned down the call-up to "keep his options open" in hope of a future England call-up, though Kelly claimed that his decision was due to "personal reasons". Kelly later claimed that he never spoke to O'Neill about playing for England, saying "I was in and out of the team at Reading at the time, so it was very far fetched to say I was looking to get an England call-up".

Kelly is a midfielder, and is capable of operating both as a defensive midfielder and an attacking midfielder. He has been described as a "playmaker", with George Elek of the Not The Top 20 Podcast highlighting his on-field intelligence and technical ability as key facets of his game in 2023. Daniel McDonnell of the Irish Independent wrote in 2017 that Kelly is "comfortable in a deep role, eager to take the ball from his defenders and dictate play", whilst Scott Lindsey, who managed Kelly at Crawley Town and Milton Keynes Dons, claimed Kelly is "very brave" in his style of play, elaborating that "he takes the ball in tight and dangerous areas, dictates and steps forward and tries things". Kelly has been noted for his relatively short height, though Kelly told The Irish Independent in 2017 that he "never let his height worry him", adding that "guys like Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi, Xavi are all small in stature and haven't done too bad in their careers". Reading manager Jaap Stam echoed this comparison to Iniesta in March 2017, claiming that "he can pass, move, go past people and defensively he's aggressive" and that "if you look at the things Liam can do he certainly comes close to [Iniesta]". Kelly later said that he "took [the comparison to Iniesta] as a really nice compliment".

As of 8 August 2026