Jack Kelsey
In 1929 Arsenal’s goalkeeper Jack Kesley who later secured the Gunners one and only top-flight Championship in the 1950s was born.
Whilst Kelsey was in goal for his local team Winch Wen who were apart of the Swansea and District League, the ex-Gunner Les Morris saw a bright future for the fulltime crane driver who worked with his dad.
Morris then advised Arsenal to watch the Welshmen for a few matches before The North Londoners came sweeping in for the young safe hands. In 1949 Kelsey had joined Arsenal but he would have to wait two years before making an impact at Highbury due to George Swindin being the number one goalkeeper.
After having played for the reserves team Kelsey pulled on the green cotton goalkeeper sweater and made his first Arsenal appearance versus Charlton Athletic in February 1951, due to Swindin being plagued with injury. Unfortunately Kelsey suffered a far from perfect start with the Gunners in the first team, Arsenal were beaten heavily 5-1 by The Robins. This was Arsenals poorest home performance for nearly two decades. For the rest of the 1951/52 campaign he would feature in four matches, before Swindin who was no longer hampered by injury returned to goal.
The next season would prove to be a real turning point in the Welshman’s career where he would be sharing the gloves with Swindin and Ted Platt, altogether he made 29 appearances in the side who were crowned champions of the 1952/53 First Division title. On top of that he lifted the 1953 Charity Shield. With his strong intimidating build and great catching skills Kelsey knocked Swindin out of Arsenal’s regular line-up, witnessing Swindin appear only twice during the 1953/54 campaign. From this point onwards Kelsey was Arsenals number one goalkeeper for the next eight years. The only time he struggled to appear for The Gunners was in 1959 when he broke his arm in an FA Cup match versus Sheffield United, however after fully recovering he slotted back into Arsenals first team as a constant regular yet again.
The season before the broken arm hit him Kelsey featured in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup final in 1958 turning out for London XI versus FC Barcelona which saw his side fail to escape the jaws of defeat.
Kelsey got the chance to play for Wales becoming a permanent fixture for his country in goal from 1954-1952 picking up 41 caps for his country. During this time he played in the 1958 World Cup for Wales which was the country’s only appearance in the competition till 2022. Wales were knocked out of the quarter-final by Brazil after the famous Pele’s shot took a deflection off Stuart Williams and past until that point the safe hands of Kelsey. He would also be included in the Great Britain versus the Rest of Europe team in 1955 for The Football League XI up against the Scottish Football League XI during 1960.
After picking up a heavy back injury whilst in goal for Wales in a friendly match versus Brazil in 1962, whilst trying to deny the Vava he was put out of the game for good. He tried all that he could to heal his injury but in the end nothing worked. A year on and Kelsey officially announced his retirement whilst at the same time being handed £5,000 worth of insurance money.
Overall Kelsey had popped up for Arsenal on 352 occasions, seeing him play in 327 league games, 24 FA Cup matches and one in the Charity Shield.
Once Kelsey had finished from playing duties he returned to Highbury as Arsenal’s commercial manager before retiring altogether in 1989. He later died in Friern Barnet aged 62 in 1992.
In 2010 Kelsey was selected for the Welsh Sports Hall of Fame for his goal-saving heroics for his country.
Liam Harding
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Thank you Liam, for this well written piece.
I don’t see any comments here, I would have thought that at least one of the ‘oldies’ who sometimes comment in JA would have done so here.
I have read that he was something of the team joker.
He would sometimes enter into a chat with supporters behind his goal.
Seemingly it was not unknown for him to come out for the second half smoking!
A nice reminder for the oldies and good information about a ‘True Arsenal Character’ for present day supporters.
Thank you Liam. Thank you.
Hi Charles,
Thanks for your kind comments that’s much appreciated, I’m glad you enjoyed it! I didn’t know the other bits you mentioned about him and I’m glad I know those bits too now. As they say you learn something new everyday and I certainly have from yourself today.
Thank you Liam
I saw Kelsey maybe two or three times in the late fifties, and TBH can’t remember his performances, before he retired and was replaced by two of the worst keepers in Arsenal’s history.
…but did get to meet him in the Arsenal shop attached to Highbury Stadium. Nice chatty bloke.