Dean Kiely

Club career

Born in Salford, Lancashire, Kiely trained with the West Bromwich Albion youth system as a schoolboy before being accepted into the FA School of Excellence at Lilleshall. After Albion he progressed through the Coventry City youth system as a trainee before signing a professional contract on 30 October 1987. He went to Ipswich Town on loan in November 1989 but failed to make any league appearances. Kiely joined York City on loan on 9 March 1990 before joining permanently in May, when he was given his first chance at regular first-team football. He made 210 league appearances for them between 1990 and 1996, and played in their 3–0 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford in the League Cup.

Following a trial with Plymouth Argyle, Kiely signed for Bury on 15 August 1996 for a tribunal-decided fee of £125,000. He spent three seasons at Bury, making 137 league appearances in the process. He was instrumental in Bury winning the Second Division title in the 1996–97 season, most notably with an 88th-minute penalty save in the penultimate game of the season from Watford's Tommy Mooney. Bury requiring a point to guarantee a second automatic promotion in as many seasons had Kiely to thank after he kept the scoreline at 0–0 in a memorable day at Vicarage Road.

Kiely moved to Charlton Athletic for a fee of £1 million on 26 May 1999 and made his debut on 7 August against Barnsley.{{Cite news | access-date = 14 January 2008 |access-date = 19 July 2011 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120921065457/http://www.wba.co.uk/page/WelcometomyWorldDetail/0,,10366~1096744,00.html |archive-date = 21 September 2012

He signed for Portsmouth for an undisclosed fee on 25 January 2006,{{Cite news | access-date = 19 July 2011}} and played a large part in their escape from relegation that same season. His Pompey debut was in the FA Cup against Liverpool at Fratton Park in a 2–1 defeat. After David James signed for Portsmouth on 11 August, he voiced his frustration at having to compete with a top goalkeeper for the No. 1 spot, and with Jamie Ashdown also on their books, he opted to leave Portsmouth in the autumn.

He signed for Championship club Luton Town on a one-month loan on 23 November 2006,{{Cite news | access-date = 19 July 2011}} making his debut in the 2–1 away defeat at Southampton on 25 November. He then joined Championship side West Bromwich Albion on 30 January 2007, signing a one-and-a-half-year contract, as a replacement for Russell Hoult.{{Cite news | access-date = 19 July 2011}} Kiely made his Albion debut in a 2–1 win over Plymouth Argyle the following day.{{Cite news |access-date=16 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110513150931/http://www.wba.co.uk/page/MatchReport/0%2C%2C10366~34282%2C00.html |archive-date=13 May 2011 |url-status=dead

Kiely reached the milestone of 700 senior career appearances on 1 September 2007, and recorded a clean sheet as Albion beat Barnsley 2–0.{{Cite news | archive-url = https://archive.today/20120806001649/http://www.wba.co.uk/page/News/0,,10366~1104877,00.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = 6 August 2012 | access-date = 16 April 2011}} He signed a new deal with West Brom in January 2008, which would expire in June 2009.{{Cite news | access-date = 19 July 2011}} Kiely's clean sheet in the 3–0 home win against Plymouth Argyle on 1 March 2008 saw him named in the Championship Team of the Week.{{Cite web |access-date=16 April 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811234256/http://www.football-league.co.uk/staticFiles/ab/dc/0%2C%2C10794~122027%2C00.pdf |archive-date=11 August 2011 | access-date = 19 July 2011}} He nonetheless kept 18 clean sheets in all competitions to win the Championship Golden Glove award, while Albion won promotion to the Premier League as champions and reached the FA Cup semi-final.{{Cite news | access-date = 16 April 2011}} Kiely then had to play second fiddle to England international Scott Carson but in spite of that, he was awarded a one-year extension at the club as a 'reward' from boss Tony Mowbray for his professionalism.{{Cite news |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120229164221/http://www.wba.co.uk/page/News/0%2C%2C10366~1538742%2C00.html |archive-date=29 February 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120229164258/http://www.wba.co.uk/page/News/0%2C%2C10366~1653561%2C00.html |archive-date=29 February 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120229164425/http://www.wba.co.uk/page/News/0%2C%2C10366~1656593%2C00.html |archive-date=29 February 2012 |url-status=dead Since relegation to the Championship Kiely has once again had to be content playing second fiddle to Carson, who was named the new club captain by new manager Roberto Di Matteo, but on 8 December 2009 he made his first Championship appearance of the season as a replacement, coming on for the sent-off Carson and saving a penalty (though Peter Whittingham scored from the rebound) in a 2–0 home defeat to Cardiff City. He went on to play a run of three games while Carson sat through a suspension following his headbutting of Cardiff striker Michael Chopra, against QPR (2–2), Peterborough United (2–0), and Scunthorpe United (3–1). Kiely had also been performing the duties of goalkeeping coach following the retirement of former trainer Joe Corrigan, and in April 2010 was officially named goalkeeping coach of the club.{{Cite news |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120329050203/http://www.wba.co.uk/page/News/0%2C%2C10366~2010321%2C00.html |archive-date=29 March 2012 |url-status=dead | access-date = 6 May 2014}} In January 2015, upon the appointment of new West Bromwich Albion manager, Tony Pulis, Kiely was released by the club. In March 2015, he was appointed Norwich City's goalkeeping coach.

In September 2017, Kiely was appointed the goalkeeping coach at Championship club Preston North End.{{cite web | access-date = 16 September 2017}}

In January 2018, Kiely joined Premier League club Crystal Palace as goalkeeping coach. He was sacked from the job in July 2025.

International career

Kiely played for England at under-15 (13 caps), under-16 (13 caps) and under-18 (four caps in 1988) levels. He made one appearance for Republic of Ireland B, starting in a 4–3 win over League of Ireland XI on 9 February 1999, in which he was substituted for Nick Colgan. He went on to represent the Republic of Ireland at full international level, earning his first cap as a substitute in a UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying play-off against Turkey in November 1999.{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120217094310/http://www.wba.co.uk/page/ProfilesDetail/0%2C%2C10366~5554%2C00.html |archive-date=17 February 2012 |url-status=dead | access-date = 16 April 2011}} but in April 2008 Ireland's assistant manager Liam Brady suggested that Kiely could make a return to the squad.{{cite news | access-date = 6 May 2014}} The rumours were then confirmed when he returned to the Ireland squad in Giovanni Trapattoni's first squad as manager in May 2008.{{cite news | access-date = 16 April 2011}} He won his first cap in five years when he appeared in the Republic's 1–1 draw with Serbia that month, playing the full 90 minutes.{{cite web | access-date = 16 April 2011}} On 28 May 2009, he walked out of the Ireland squad after Trapattoni informed him that he would be replacing Shay Given with Keiren Westwood for the second half of the friendly International against Nigeria at Craven Cottage on 29 May.{{cite news | access-date = 19 July 2011}} He was capped 11 times by the Republic of Ireland, last appearing in 2008.

Personal life

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. He plays golf and is interested in horse racing, and is friends with WBA fan & ITV presenter Adrian Chiles.{{cite news | access-date = 14 January 2008 | access-date = 16 April 2011}} {{cite web | access-date = 16 April 2011}} The couple have three children; Millie, Chris and Mason. Chris is a former professional goalkeeper.{{cite web |access-date=4 November 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120215164808/http://www.gillinghamfootballclub.com/page/ProfilesDetail/0%2C%2C10416~42391%2C00.html |archive-date=15 February 2012 |url-status=dead

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

York City

• Football League Third Division play-offs: 1993

Bury

• Football League Second Division: 1996–97

Charlton Athletic

• Football League First Division: 1999–2000

West Bromwich Albion

• Football League Championship: 2007–08

Individual

• Charlton Athletic Player of the Year: 2001–02, 2003–04
• Football League Championship Golden Glove: 2007–08

References

References

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7. "Appointed Norwich goalkeeping coach".
8. (5 January 2018). "Dean Kiely has joined Crystal Palace as the club's new goalkeeping coach.".
9. (3 September 2025). "Crystal Palace to appoint Andy Quy as goalkeeper coach – Speroni to return to academy".
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35. The Football League. (14 May 2008). "LEAGUE HONOUR GOLDEN SIX".