It is a pleasure to welcome Thomas Carter (@ThomasCarter83) to the pages of A United View to summarise why former A United View interviewee Alan Kelly was his favourite Blade.
To put it mildly the mid to late
90s were turbulent times for Sheffield United. We’ve had F.A. Cup semi-finals,
last second relegation, linesmen getting chinned, the play-offs, chairmen
wanted by Interpol and one of our finest centre-forward partnerships being sold
off for peanuts on the same day, to name but a few examples. After the
departure of Dave Bassett in 1995 the managerial revolving door was in full
rotation with more false dawns than a French and Saunders themed fancy dress
party.
Against this background of
instability two of the few constants within the club were the goalkeepers,
Simon Tracey and Alan Kelly. Looking back on that time, and bearing in mind
some of the ‘keepers we’ve seen at the Lane over the past two seasons it is
amazing to think we were able to keep 2 keepers of that calibre on the books
for so long.
As a youth of about 10-11, I fancied myself as
a bit of a keeper and at the time Alan Kelly was the first choice at the Lane.
Therefore he was quickly established as my favourite player. Simon Tracey’s displays in the promotion
winning side of 89/90 were a bit before my time as a Blade. I remember breaking my arm playing in goal
and I managed to get Alan to sign my pot. Being able to carry his autograph
around on my arm for all to see went some way to atone for not being able to
play football for 6 weeks.
Alan signed for the Blades from
Preston NE in 1992, coming from good goalkeeping stock. His father was one of
Preston’s greatest ever players, with his image now adorning a stand at
Deepdale. His brother, Gary, also had a decent career in the game and even
turned out for the Blades in the closing stages of 02/03.
There will always be debate
amongst Blades fans about who was the better ‘keeper but for my money Alan
Kelly just shades it, mainly for the great F.A. cup nights at Bramall Lane in
replays against Blackburn and Coventry. The latter game on St Patricks day 1997
saw him carried aloft from the pitch by Unitedites following a hat-trick of penalty saves, not
to mention a Gordon Banks-esque effort (as Radio Sheffield put it) in the first
game at Highfield Road, to put the
Blades into the semi-final at the expense of Premiership Coventry City.
For many Blades, myself included
it was his commitment to the cause that endeared him to the supporters. An
iconic image of the great man was him hobbling off the pitch after the play-off
second leg away at Ipswich in ’97, with his left leg strapped up and probably
more needle marks on his arm than Pete Doherty, from all the painkilling
injections in Alan’s case, as the Blades dragged themselves into the play-off
final.
He was linked with numerous moves
to Premiership sides but chose to remain at Bramall Lane right up until the
chaotic final days of Mike McDonald’s reign. His final game, a pre season
friendly with Chelsea, was characterised by chants from the Kop begging him not
to leave for a proposed move to Aberdeen.
He eventually left for Blackburn
Rovers in the summer on 1999 after 7 years battling with Simon Tracey for the
keeper’s jersey. He did however, have one final gift for Unitedites; turning down flat a move to our vile
neighbours a couple of years later. His reason – “once a Blade, always a
Blade”.
Alan can be followed on twitter at @keepingskills
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