DEAN KIELY

'Dean Lawrence Kiely' (born October 10 1970 in Salford, England) is an Irish goalkeeper, currently playing for West Bromwich Albion. He won eight caps for the Republic of Ireland, but was usually on the bench as their substitute 'keeper. He retired from international football in 2004. Kiely boasts an impressive career record of 219 clean sheets in his 672 appearances as of January 30th 2007.

Contents

Football career

References

External links

Football career

As a schoolboy he trained with West Bromwich Albion before being accepted into the FA School of Excellence at Lilleshall. From there he was signed by Coventry City. After failing to break into the first team at either Coventry or Ipswich Town, Kiely's career really started at York City. He made 210 league appearances for them between 1990 and 1996, and played in their shock 3-0 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford in the League Cup.
Three years at Bury followed before a move to Premiership outfit Charlton Athletic. He was Charlton's regular keeper from 1999 to 2005, and was popular with the club's fans as well as having a majestic "shut out" rate. Having been signed from a lower-division club for a relatively small fee, he was seen as an example of Alan Curbishley's ability to spot talent in unheralded players. Kiely made a point-blank save from Birmingham City player Christophe Dugarry in a match at St Andrews on 3 November, 2003; Charlton went on to win the game 2-1 and Kiely later named the save as the favourite one of his career.^[1]
He signed for Portsmouth in January 2006,^[2] and played a large part in their escape from relegation that same season. His Pompey debut was in the F.A Cup against Liverpool at Fratton Park in a 2-1 defeat. Following David James signing for Portsmouth on August 11, he voiced his frustration at having to compete with a top goalkeeper for the #1 spot, and with Jamie Ashdown also on their books, he opted to leave Portsmouth in the autumn.
In November 2006 he signed a loan deal for Luton Town, making his debut in the 2-1 away defeat at Southampton.^[3] He then signed for West Bromwich Albion during the January transfer window, signing an 18 month contract.^[4]
On 28 April, 2007, at an away match against Coventry City, West Brom supporters showed their appreciation of both Kiely and Paul McShane (both Irish internationals), by adopting their traditional last away game party as an Irish theme. Kiely reached the milestone of 700 senior career appearances on 1 September, 2007, and recorded a clean sheet as Albion beat Barnsley 2–0.^[5]
Away from football, Kiely made a guest appearance on Bravo's ''Saved by the Ball'' lifestyle makeover programme in 2006, and has also worked as a match summariser for BBC Radio 5 Live.

References

1. Pick a number...
2. Kiely makes switch to Portsmouth
3. Kiely secures loan move to Luton
4. West Brom clinch Kiely transfer
5. Clean-sheet king Kiely still going strong

External links

★

★ Dean Kiely Official Website at Icons.com

★ BBC profile