Alan Kelly is a referee on the rise through UEFA’s ranks, but he has had to come through his fair share of bad-hair days to reach the level that he is currently soaring at.
The 36-year-old is undoubtedly the most recognisable official in the Airtricity League, although he admits that could be as much to do with past hairstyles as his decisions on the pitch.
‘There are probably a couple of reasons [why I am so recognisable]. I’d like to think my ability as a referee is the main one, but it’s probably not. When I was younger I turned up to grounds with stupid haircuts,’ Kelly told Sportsmail.
‘That sort of thing is going to get you attention straight away. It wasn’t the reason for doing that, it was just being young and being stupid.
‘Eventually the penny dropped and a lot of people literally said “tone that down”. You don’t need any more attention than you are already going to get.’
Kelly has learned from past errors and is now in the spotlight solely for his refereeing ability with UEFA handing him bigger and bigger games to whistle — from the Champions League group stages to Euro 2012 qualifiers.
While he is still outside the Elite Category of the top 25 referees, the Cork native, along with a team of Irish officials, is continuing to make great strides and is determined to break into that top tier.
‘I’m in the Premier Development group, which is still not the top 25 guys. We’re into the Champions League groups and the higher level of Euro 2012 qualifiers, so we’ve progressed,’ he explained.
‘But the guys in the Premier Development are really in the shop window. You are given the opportunities, in terms of bigger games, better calibre of teams, players and stadiums. And it’s how you handle that.
‘One of my colleagues was saying that he would love to have a real humdinger of a game with four or five big decisions, but you’ve got to be careful what you wish for.’
After missing out on the knockout stages of the Europa League due to illness, it is highly unlikely that Kelly will land the showcase final at Aviva Stadium next month. Instead, he has to be patient and wait for another chance to impress.
Although he reckons that process could be quickened if Ireland had some influence on the UEFA referee’s committee.
‘When you are coming from a perceived smaller footballing country like Ireland, you’ve got to work your backside off,’ revealed Kelly.
‘Some guys from the bigger countries, they get more opportunities when they make mistakes. But when you come from a smaller country, it is even more difficult to get that break and that’s a commonly known fact.
‘The bigger countries like England, Spain, France, Germany and Italy — those guys always have referees at the very top level. Ireland has never had anyone on the UEFA referees’ committee and you need somebody in your corner.’
Kelly is doing just fine on his own though. In a recent fitness test of the top 48 referees, he finished 10th and that was in the blistering heat of Cyprus. Not bad at all.
However, it has been far from smooth waters to get to this stage. As well as taking charge of domestic fixtures on a regular basis, he also has a full-time job as manager of the health and fitness spa at the Maryborough Hotel in Cork.
Juggling those two roles has been a challenge. Every work holiday day has been used up for refereeing ventures, while squeezing in family time with his wife and two young kids has proved difficult.
Although he has the ‘refereeing bug’ and hasn’t been able to shake it off since he first started as an 18-year-old. With his grandfather and father both prominent referees in their time, it was inevitable he would follow the same route.
‘Playing was always my first love, but I got injured and I did a referee’s beginner’s course. Then I started refereeing schoolboy games and went back playing for a season, but I had the bug at that stage,’ he said.
Kelly’s brother, Graham, is the latest family member to catch that bug, although he says that his younger sibling won’t get a reputation for outrageous hairstyles as he is ‘going bald’.
For now, it is the older of the brothers that is getting all of the attention and he hopes to keep moving up the UEFA ladder to establish himself one of the top referees in Europe. He’s certainly on the right track.
A day in the life
After taking charge of the highly-charged ‘friendly’ between France and Croatia in the Stade de France last month, Alan Kelly was in the humble confines of the UCD Bowl last Friday to handle Bohemians’ 2-0 win over UCD. This is how Kelly’s long day panned out.
08:00 Brings kids to creche
10:00 Breakfast
12:00 Leaves Cork to travel to Dublin
14:30 Arrives at hotel
16:00 Meets up with matchday assistants
17:00 Sportsmail interview
18:15 Pre-match check of pitch and facilities
19:15 Pre-match warm-up
19:45 Kick-off
19:54 First big incident as Robbie Creevy makes a foul
20:09 Opts not to caution Mark Rossiter for a clear trip
20:21 Produces first yellow card for UCD’s Michael Leahy
20:58 Second yellow goes to UCD midfielder Creevy
21:10 Ignores howls from crowd to book Ger Barron
21:30 Blows for full-time
21:45 Post-match warm down
23:00 Leaves stadium and heads back to hotel