Australian Football

AustralianFootball.com Celebrating the history of the great Australian game

 

Key Facts

Full name
Brian Kelly

Known as
Brian Kelly

Born
28 July 1917

Died
13 May 1985 (aged 67)

Age at first & last AFL game
First game: 21y 296d
Last game: 28y 63d

Height and weight
Height: 178 cm
Weight: 81 kg

Senior clubs
South Melbourne

Jumper numbers
South Melbourne: 31, 5

Brian Kelly

Advanced stats
Club
League
Career span
Games
Goals
Avg
Win %
AKI
AHB
AMK
BV
South MelbourneV/AFL1939-194592140.1553%———0
Total1939-194592140.1553%———0

AFL: 4,708th player to appear, 2,682nd most games played, 4,406th most goals kickedSouth Melbourne: 544th player to appear, 165th most games played, 399th most goals kicked

Brian Kelly was a solidly effective defender whose VFL career with South Melbourne precisely coincided with the period of the Second World War. He made the first of an eventual 92 senior appearances with South in 1939, while his last VFL game was the notorious 'Bloodbath Grand Final' of 1945 (reviewed here). In 1946, Kelly crossed the Bass Strait to take up the coaching role at TFL club New Town, whom he steered to that year's Grand Final only to see them go down by seven goals to Sandy Bay .

Author - John Devaney

Sources

Full Points Footy Publications

Footnotes

* Behinds calculated from the 1965 season on.
+ Score at the end of extra time.