Player Profile: Goalkeeper Dean Kiely

By Jemma Tappenden
December 8 2007

As part of the recent changes to the board, occasionally the main page story may be a player profile. An added extra to the player profile link on the menu, these profiles have been researched and written by admin here on the site! We hope you enjoy, and look for more player profiles to come in the future!

Stafford born Dean Kiely ironically began his early career at the Hawthorns, training with West Brom until he was accepted into the Lilleshall FA School of Excellence.  The young keeper was soon snapped up by Coventry City, but after failing to make a start moved to Ipswich Town.  His time at Town was as unprogressive as it had been at Coventry, and it was a move to York City which eventually kick started Kiely’s career.

 

Kiely made a massive 210 appearances for York during his 5 year stint, including one in the infamous 3-0 victory over Manchester United in the League Cup at Old Trafford.  Kiely then moved to Bury for a 3 year period, but it was Alan Curbishley’s interest at Charlton Athletic which really got the keeper noticed.  The then Premiership Carlton signed Kiely in 1999, and he became an instant favourite amongst the fans.  Having been signed from a lower league club for a small fee he quickly became one of the bargain Premiership buys of the season.

 

During the transfer window of 2006, the highly rated keeper moved to Pompey.  It was a baptism of fire – facing Liverpool in the FA Cup for his debut at Fratton Park.  Portsmouth lost 2-1 that day, but the keeper still went on to win a place in the heart of all Pompey fans as he went on to become a first team regular and an instrumental part of the victory in relegation dogfight. 

 

The Signing of David James to Pompey in the summer of 2006 left Kiely feeling displaced, and so a loan agreement was made securing the keeper first team action at Luton Town.  However he snapped up the opportunity to move to the Baggies in January 2007 on an 18 month contract.  Again, Kiely became an instant hit, and Albion supporters showed their appreciation for the keeper on the last away game of last season, buy donning Irish dress in recognition of both him and Paul McShane.

 

On 1^st of September Kiely reached the milestone of 700 senior appearances, keeping a clean sheet and seeing his side beat Barnsley 2-0.  He also has eight caps for the Republic of Ireland, retiring from the International scene in 2004.