The Last Of His Kind
leedsunited.com
When Gary Kelly steps onto the Elland Road pitch to the appreciation of the crowd on the occasion of his 500th appearance for the club, it could well be the last time such an achievement is recognised.
Nearly 15 years since he made his Leeds debut in a Rumbelows Cup tie against Scunthorpe at Elland Road in October, 1991, Kelly is set to become part of an elite list of ten players who have surpassed 500 appearances for United.
The man from Drogheda joins the likes of Billy Bremner, Norman Hunter, Peter Lorimer and Jack Charlton in that list, the only non-Revie era player, and by the end of his current contract could surpass former mentor Eddie Gray's 577 appearances.
The 31-year-old will receive a presentation from director Peter Lorimer on the pitch before tomorrow's game against Luton, but the player himself has shunned all media opportunities in the build up. It's simply not Gary's style to attract attention to himself before games, but there is the promise of a few words afterwards.
Manager Kevin Blackwell doubts any other player in the modern era, particularly in the Premier League and the Championship, will ever follow in Kelly's footsteps.
"I don't think you will see a player make 500 appearances for his club again," said Blackwell.
"With the Bosman ruling coming in it will be such a rarity and before many players before were happy to settle and stay at a club because you couldn't move for much more money anyway.
"It's taken Kelly 14 and a half years to get here and I can't see anyone staying at a club that long again, so we may be saluting one of the last bastion's of football.
"It puts him alongside some of the greats at Leeds who have hit the 500 mark. It is an awesome achievement and I take my hat off to him.
"He has been a stalwart at the club and has been through the thick and thin with us. It was only right that he was here when we were going through hard time because we needed that sort of player."
Blackwell has come to know Kelly well and revealed how he values his input, and can recognise the sincerity of the man away from the football pitch.
"I have listened to Kells a lot and we sit down and talk about things such as the feeling in the dressing room and he has been a great lad for that.
"A lot of players come here and look up to him because he has a great reputation and he's never been one to look down at others, he's helped everybody and that's been a surprise to some of them because they know he's a big name player.
"He goes out of his way to help people and if you know Gary Kelly you will find he's a really genuine person and at charitable events he is the first person to put his hand in his pocket."
Blackwell did joke that he would leave the full-back out of his squad for the weekend just to thwart the press who have written about him in the build-up, but Saturday will be a special day for the Kelly household and only Luton Town stand in the way of making it extra special with three points for the Whites.
The 500 club:
ALL-TIME APPEARANCES the TOP 10
1 Jack Charlton 773 (no subs)
2 Billy Bremner 773 (inc 1 sub)
3 Paul Reaney 748 (inc 12 subs)
4 Norman Hunter 726 (inc 2 subs)
5 Paul Madeley 725 (inc 13 subs)
6 Peter Lorimer 703 (inc 27 subs)
7 Eddie Gray 577 (inc 18 subs)
8 John Giles 527 (inc 4 subs)
9 Gary Sprake 507 (inc 2 subs)
10 Gary Kelly 499 (inc 15 subs)*
leedsunited.com
When Gary Kelly steps onto the Elland Road pitch to the appreciation of the crowd on the occasion of his 500th appearance for the club, it could well be the last time such an achievement is recognised.
Nearly 15 years since he made his Leeds debut in a Rumbelows Cup tie against Scunthorpe at Elland Road in October, 1991, Kelly is set to become part of an elite list of ten players who have surpassed 500 appearances for United.
The man from Drogheda joins the likes of Billy Bremner, Norman Hunter, Peter Lorimer and Jack Charlton in that list, the only non-Revie era player, and by the end of his current contract could surpass former mentor Eddie Gray's 577 appearances.
The 31-year-old will receive a presentation from director Peter Lorimer on the pitch before tomorrow's game against Luton, but the player himself has shunned all media opportunities in the build up. It's simply not Gary's style to attract attention to himself before games, but there is the promise of a few words afterwards.
Manager Kevin Blackwell doubts any other player in the modern era, particularly in the Premier League and the Championship, will ever follow in Kelly's footsteps.
"I don't think you will see a player make 500 appearances for his club again," said Blackwell.
"With the Bosman ruling coming in it will be such a rarity and before many players before were happy to settle and stay at a club because you couldn't move for much more money anyway.
"It's taken Kelly 14 and a half years to get here and I can't see anyone staying at a club that long again, so we may be saluting one of the last bastion's of football.
"It puts him alongside some of the greats at Leeds who have hit the 500 mark. It is an awesome achievement and I take my hat off to him.
"He has been a stalwart at the club and has been through the thick and thin with us. It was only right that he was here when we were going through hard time because we needed that sort of player."
Blackwell has come to know Kelly well and revealed how he values his input, and can recognise the sincerity of the man away from the football pitch.
"I have listened to Kells a lot and we sit down and talk about things such as the feeling in the dressing room and he has been a great lad for that.
"A lot of players come here and look up to him because he has a great reputation and he's never been one to look down at others, he's helped everybody and that's been a surprise to some of them because they know he's a big name player.
"He goes out of his way to help people and if you know Gary Kelly you will find he's a really genuine person and at charitable events he is the first person to put his hand in his pocket."
Blackwell did joke that he would leave the full-back out of his squad for the weekend just to thwart the press who have written about him in the build-up, but Saturday will be a special day for the Kelly household and only Luton Town stand in the way of making it extra special with three points for the Whites.
The 500 club:
ALL-TIME APPEARANCES the TOP 10
1 Jack Charlton 773 (no subs)
2 Billy Bremner 773 (inc 1 sub)
3 Paul Reaney 748 (inc 12 subs)
4 Norman Hunter 726 (inc 2 subs)
5 Paul Madeley 725 (inc 13 subs)
6 Peter Lorimer 703 (inc 27 subs)
7 Eddie Gray 577 (inc 18 subs)
8 John Giles 527 (inc 4 subs)
9 Gary Sprake 507 (inc 2 subs)
10 Gary Kelly 499 (inc 15 subs)*