Former City star Kelly has never forgotten his Bristol Central roots
LLOYD Kelly needs no introduction when he faces hometown team Bristol City this evening.
The ex-Robins defender comes up against the club which sold him in summer 2019 for a huge fee to then Premier League, Bournemouth - reported widely as being about £13 million, though the Bristol Post understands the full deal is worth beyond £20m if all contract stipulations are met.
That money has been ploughed back into the club and Bristol City have further pushed on in the Championship as the Cherries have moved the other way.
Tonight, Kelly faces the side that he came through the ranks with from the age of 12, captaining the City Under-23s, before eventually becoming a regular under in Lee Johnson’s 2018-19 side.
The youngster undertook work with Bristol City’s Community Trust in Botswana as a teenager and he was also shortlisted for the Apprentice of the Year prize at the 2017 EFL Awards after completing an NVQ and passing his coaching qualifications, before travelling with Steve Cotterill and his senior side on a training camp to Portugal in 2015.
From then it was gradual progression, from making a senior debut in 2017 against Plymouth Argyle, supplanting Joe Bryan - who left for Fulham in 2018 - in the City first team, England Under-21 recognition, and even interest from Liverpool which almost saw the Reds swoop for the versatile defender ahead of Eddie Howe’s side (with a medical even arranged at one point according to The Times).
Kelly has trained with the Eng
land senior side and featured heavily for Aidy Boothroyd’s squad in the set-up below, and he found form in the Premier League with the south-coast club towards the end of last season, though Bournemouth were eventually relegated.
The 22-year-old has had a mixed start to this season following a hamstring injury sustained against Manchester City in the Carabao Cup, setting up Chris Mepham’s 95th-minute equaliser against Watford last weekend, but arguably lucky to face Bristol City tonight as many pundits believed he should have been shown a red card for a tackle on Ismaela Sarr on Saturday.
Still, Kelly will relish playing his former side and retains his love for Bristol. The now central defender - perfectly suited to his left-sided berth in a back three, beside Steve Cook with Mepham on the right - maintains a flat down on the harbourside and regularly visits his former youth team, a great example of Kelly’s humble character that has helped him on his way to the top.
Derek Scale, a close friend and chairman of Bristol Central, where Kelly started playing for a club, said: “I’ve watched him through his career when he was playing football or at school at City Academy.
“He’s a good lad and you always knew that when he was younger he was going to be a bit of a baller. He had the right stature, the right attitude and he was just some boy who loved to play football.
“You could always tell that he would make it. He just had the right attitude for everything.” Which is lofty praise given that Bobby Reid, Rolando Aarons and Kaiden Wilson - who signed for Chelsea earlier this year, from under the noses of Bristol City and Bristol Rovers - have all come through the Bristol Central club, too.
Kelly still mucks in, helping out at the end-of-season presentations and sending on signed shirts to inspire the next generation of Bristol superstars.
Scale said: “He’s always willing to help out. If he’s in Bristol he’ll contact me. I’ve been running our football festival for god knows how many years and Lloyd was part of that when he was younger and he’ll always come down and support the boys and the club.
“He doesn’t like to say no and even though he’s gone on to better things he always makes time.
“He could play for Arsenal or Liverpool and he’d still be the same boy. He’s Bristol through and through, he’s still got a lot of friends he’s in contact with here and Bristol will always be where his heart is no matter where he is.”
Bristol Central Youth FC are based at the Rose Green Centre, Gordon Road, Whitehall, Bristol, BS5 7DR (home fixtures); City Academy Bristol, Russell Town Avenue, BS5 9JH (Saturday training).