MICHAEL KELLY spent last season mixing it with the best at Leicester City and was taught a lesson in training by England’s Player of the Year Riyad Mahrez.
But now the teenage defender is learning in the school of hard knocks after swapping the glamour of the Premier League champions for the AYRSHIRE JUNIORS and a game against Ardeer tomorrow.
It’s Kilbirnie rather than the King Power Stadium for the 18-year-old full-back after joining Hurlford United thanks to a call from friend Darren Henderson when he failed to land a club.
But don’t expect the youngster to turn up his nose despite the sudden drop for a player who started off at Aberdeen and captained a group of Scotland’s rising stars, including Celtic ’s Kieran Tierney, at Under-17 level.
Kelly played for the Foxes highly-rated Academy side but was lucky to be promoted by Claudio Ranieri for a few training sessions that saw him face the likes of Mahrez and Jamie Vardy.
With so many top stars in front of him, his deal wasn’t renewed and he was invited in by Rangers but didn’t think more years at youth level would benefit him.
That is why he accepted the call from the 2014 Scottish Junior Cup winners and hopes a stint at Blair Park can help him in the long term with his ambition to make it in the senior game.
Kelly told Record Sport: “I accept going from Leicester to Hurlford might be hard to imagine for people on the outside but I don’t have any issues.
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“I played against Renfrew in a friendly for my debut but I never stopped to think of the contrast between Premier League Academy level and the Ayrshire juniors.
“It was a great experience being at Leicester last season when they won the title, although I played and captained the Under-18s and Under-21s.
“I was there for almost two years and it was amazing. I didn’t get close to being on the bench for the first team but I trained a few times with them.
“It was a real education and I was actually marking Mahrez. That was a hard task but he was great and spoke to me after it.
“I learned a lot just from training against England’s Player of the Year but my contract came to an end and it wasn’t renewed which was disappointing.
“They had left-backs who were full internationals and Under-21 internationals, better players.
“I signed for Aberdeen when I was 13 and went full-time two years later. I had a year-and-a-half there but Paul Sheerin came in as Under-20s manager and things didn’t really work out for me.
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“I gambled and asked to leave and my agent fixed up a week at Leicester. I trained three times, played a game and they took a chance and signed me.
“A few clubs were interested when I left Leicester – Rangers and Nottingham Forest were two. It fell through but I’ve no regrets.
“If I had gone to Rangers I’d be playing Under-20s football which I’ve done for the last four years and I feel it will benefit me more playing man’s football.
“My long-term aim is to get back into the senior game but at the moment I’m enjoying playing with Hurlford. That’s my focus.
“I’ve been waiting all summer and not had the help or call I’d hoped for. Darren came along and I appreciate what he’s done for me. I won’t turn my nose up because it’s the Ayrshire juniors. Of course, you can’t compare it with taking on Mahrez.
“At Academy level a lot of first team players would play when returning from injury. Robin van Persie, Adnan Januzaj and Jonnny Evans played for Man United.
“I captained Scotland Under-17s and went to Malta for the Euro elite round. Greg Kiltie was my room-mate and Ryan Hardie, Kieran Tierney, Joe Thomson, Aidan Nesbitt and Jack Breslin were also in my age group.”
Hurlford manager Henderson praised Kelly’s attitude and said: “It’s not Man City or Arsenal – it’s Ardeer and Saltcoats.
“It’s a bizarre story but I hope in a few years Michael looks back on a successful route back to the senior game. When I signed him I thought it was madness.
“I had to get him international clearance to play – that must be a first for a junior manager.
“But he’s been great. He knows if East Stirling or Barcelona come in for him then he’s free to leave.”