Desmond Kelly is a British journalist and broadcaster.
Quick Facts Born, Nationality ...
Des Kelly |
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Born | Desmond Kelly |
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Nationality | British |
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Occupation(s) | Journalist, broadcaster |
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Kelly was the Chief Reporter and interviewer for British broadcaster BT Sport for a decade. He was part of the live broadcast team mainly for the channel's Champions League and Premier League coverage. He was nominated as SJA Broadcast Journalist of the Year for 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022 - and highly commended in 2017 and 2018.[1]
Kelly presented 136 editions of Life's A Pitch with Des Kelly, a live, late-night sport/entertainment show on BT Sport. It was rebranded Follow the Football with Des Kelly for the new season in 2014. Kelly was also executive producer of the programme, which originally launched on 5 August 2013 and was nominated for SJA Television Show of the Year in 2013.[2] Kelly simultaneously presented SportsHUB, BT Sport's sports news programme, from Monday to Thursday, until the show closed in 2015. He left when BT Sport transitioned to TNT Sports.
Kelly was a long-standing presenter on talkSPORT, the commercial national radio station which broadcasts from London across the United Kingdom. He is the former host of The Press Pass, a show introduced on the first weekend of the Premier League season in August 2011. It was twice nominated as SJA Sports Radio Programme of the Year in 2011 and 2012. Kelly quit in August 2014 to concentrate on his BT commitments, but is still an occasional contributor.
A winner of the SJA Sports Columnist of the Year award, Kelly was nominated as UK Press Gazette Sports Writer of the Year and commended on four occasions by the Sports Journalists' Association for his articles.
In 2012 Kelly was named among the top 10 most influential sportswriters in Britain by the trade publication, UK Press Gazette.[3]
Kelly was a sports columnist on the Daily Mail for nearly a decade, having joined the paper in 2004.
Previously, Kelly was the Acting Editor and Deputy Editor of the Daily Mirror. Kelly replaced Piers Morgan after he was sacked for publishing faked photos of Iraqi prisoners being "tortured" by British troops[4] and edited the paper in the wake of that controversy. Kelly was also forced out of the Mirror later in 2004 when Richard Wallace was handed the position.[5]
A contributor to Sky News and BBC Breakfast, he is also a regular member of the BBC Radio Five Live Fighting Talk panel show and has appeared on Sportsweek and the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.
He is a former Assistant Editor and Head of Sport of the Daily Express, football editor of the Sunday Express, and the Chief Sports Reporter of the now defunct Today newspaper. He was previously a columnist for The Sunday Times and had a column in the London Evening Standard. He has also has written for GQ, German newspaper Bild and L'Équipe in France.
Kelly lives in Bristol. Born in London of an Irish family, he was educated at Wimbledon College and has a University of Surrey BA (Hons) in English and History from Froebel College in Roehampton, London.[14]
He is married to Paulina. Their engagement was announced in The Times on 26 December 2014. They married on 13 June 2015 in the Bristol Planetarium.
More information Year, Show ...
Year |
Show |
Role |
Channel |
Notes |
2014 - 2023 |
Live football Premier League & Champions League coverage |
Chief reporter & interviewer |
BT Sport |
2013 - 2014 |
Life’s A Pitch with Des Kelly |
Presenter |
136 episodes |
2014 |
Follow The Football with Des Kelly |
6 episodes |
2013 - 2014 |
Transfer Deadline Day |
|
2013 |
Football Tonight |
2013 |
SportsHUB |
2013 |
Arctic Lapland Rally documentary |
|
Sky News |
2012 |
Olympics Most Amazing Moments |
contributor |
BBC Three |
2011 - 2013 |
Murnaghan |
regular guest |
Sky News |
2010 - 2013 |
Daybreak |
regular contributor |
ITV |
2009 |
The Noughties review |
contributor |
BBC2 |
2008 |
Britain’s Most Annoying People |
|
2009 - 2013 |
Saturday Sport |
regular contributor |
Sky News |
2007 - 2008 |
Inside Sport |
Co-Presenter |
BBC1 |
Series 1 and 2 |
2005 - 2012 |
Sunrise |
regular contributor |
Sky News |
|
2004 - 2013 |
The Press Preview |
2004 - 2010 |
GMTV |
regular guest |
ITV |
2001 |
Clive Anderson’s Sports Talk Show |
contributor |
Channel 4 |
2000 - 2004 |
Hold The Back Page |
multiple contributor |
Sky Sports |
1996 - 2012 |
BBC News |
multiple guest apps |
|
1999 |
England v Poland Live |
|
Sky Sports |
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In 2012 Samuel was named top in a UK Press Gazette poll of Britain's best sports journalists.