Jon Daly has made his first appointment as Dundalk FC manager, bringing in Graham Kelly from St Patrick’s Athletic to form part of his backroom team.

Kelly, who holds a UEFA Pro-Licence, worked with the new Lilywhites boss during his spell at Richmond Park and will assume responsibility for Dundalk’s video analysis, as well as holding a coaching role.

“I’m absolutely delighted to get Graham in as part of my staff,” said Daly. “We worked closely at Pat’s last year and he was an integral part of the success we had.

“He is a fantastic analyst and is a fantastic Pro-Licence coach also. He’ll be there to help me on and off the park and hopefully help bring success to Dundalk.”

After spending four years in various coaching positions at Bray Wanderers between 2014 and 2018, Kelly was named as the first-team manager of SSE Airtricity Women’s Premier Division club DLR Waves in January 2019. 

He left that position 12 months ago to become Daly’s first-team coach at St Patrick’s Athletic and helped the club to an FAI Cup win and a third-place league finish.

“It’s great to have the opportunity to work with Jon again. We had a very close relationship and I know how ambitious he is and I know what his plans are to move this club forward,” said Kelly.

The Dubliner met the squad for the first time on Wednesday morning and he said he was impressed by what he saw, on and off the pitch.

“Everyone was really warm and made me feel very welcome,” he said. “It’s a very talented group of players and there was real quality in the session so I think there’s a lot to look forward to.”

Kelly replaces Dominic Corrigan, who has left Oriel Park after three-and-a-half years at the club. We would like to thank Dom for his contribution and we wish him the very best of luck in the future.