Kelly quickly finds feet in America
There were a number of recognisable names involved. Clint Dempsey started on the bench for the hosts while ex-Newcastle striker Obafemi Martins led the line.
The evergreen Marcus Hahnemann, the former Reading and Wolves keeper, was a Sounders substitute.
But there was one other familiar face. The man in the middle. This was Irish referee Alan Kelly’s first MLS assignment.
“It was no different to any other match and the focus was that everything went well. The pre-game experience was something very different — very much a show but in a good way and something I certainly won’t forget.
Seattle fans are notorious for their noise, be it in any sport, and that was very interesting as well. It sounded like a lot more than 40,000.”
Like any good story, it wasn’t meant to happen this way. Kelly moved to Boston in January to take up a training and development role with the Professional Referees’ Organization (PRO). Though he registered locally as a referee in Massachusetts upon arrival, he expected some lower-profile appointments and, if required, a gradual, patient ascent towards MLS.
But, on the eve of the new season, a labour dispute between the Professional Soccer Referees’ Association (PSRA) and PRO resulted in match officials being ‘locked out’.
Replacements were required and fast.
Kelly was catapulted in for the opening weekend along with 23 others. PSRA fumed and released a document on its website describing those working during the strike as ‘scabs’ and composing scathing ‘bios’ of each replacement official. For Kelly, PSRA questioned his visa status and whether he was even a registered US referee. Distasteful and unsavoury, Kelly doesn’t dwell on the subject.
“It’s not something I want to talk about. It wasn’t ideal for anyone. What happened, happened and that’s pretty much it.”
Despite his refereeing having unintentionally dominated things since arriving in the US, Kelly is intensely focused on his training and development role — something he had wanted to branch into later in his career.
“The opportunity to work in a full-time refereeing environment is something I never thought would present itself. My life is consumed by refereeing. I grew up with it. But the decision we made as a family wasn’t based on the refereeing, more so on the training and development.
“But when the opportunity presented itself, it was something I had to look at seriously and weigh up the pros and cons. It was a difficult decision to step back a little from the refereeing side of things.”
Kelly joined the League of Ireland referees’ panel in 1999. In 2002, at the age of 26, he made the Fifa list and has taken charge of various Champions League and Europa League games. In 2011, he refereed Real Madrid’s clash with Dinamo Zagreb at the Bernabeu. But, as well as the personal sacrifices, Kelly’s move to North America has brought about one significant professional one too.
“My international career as a referee is over. One of the decisions that I made when taking up the position with PRO is that I forwent my Fifa status and that was a really difficult decision to make. But after a lot of thought and soul-searching, I was reluctantly comfortable with it. My profession over the last number of years has been geared towards big decision-making and that was a big decision for me.”
Kelly’s job now is to use his experience in developing MLS match officials. There are regular trips to the PRO office in New York and to games around the country. But the majority of his work involves seminars that occur every couple of weeks where referees and fourth officials gather to brainstorm and analyse.
“The camps are very much geared towards video analysis but there’s physical training and discussion groups too. It’s not just about decisions that are incorrect. Equally as important are the correct ones. The incidents are broken down into different categories, shown and discussed. It’s critiquing decisions but for the purpose of development so there’s more of a push towards consistent decision-making.”
The North American football landscape is a complicated place. There is no promotion or relegation. The process of ‘trading’ players is a mass of complexities. Clubs operate under strict financial restraints with salary caps. Only ‘designated players’ can break those restrictions. As a result of these anomalies, there’s a hardcore element to MLS with stakeholders proud of its uniqueness and wary of those unable to understand it.
There’s an appreciation that, for the most part, MLS hasn’t been defined by the influence of big-name signings. Unlike previous incarnations, league football in North America is developing because of North Americans. As an outsider, Kelly is aware of the pre-determined perception that many MLS supporters may have of him.
“There may have been some scepticism from people but I’ve been watching MLS games for the last six or seven years.
“When the opportunity came up in the middle of last year, I was familiar with the league without being over-familiar with it.
“I knew the clubs, some of the players, I knew some of the match officials. But for the last four months of 2013, I spent lots of time looking at MLS games just to familiarise myself with everything — most importantly, the match officials. But, it wasn’t completely new to me at all.”
Those critical of MLS will point to the league as a desirable destination only for players intent on winding down their careers. They will point to the poor television ratings. They will point to the artificial surfaces. They will point to the paltry average attendances for certain teams. They will point to the quality. But Kelly believes the negativity is misguided.
“Peoples’ perception of MLS doesn’t give it enough credit. It’s a really progressive league.
“My experience from what I’ve seen on TV, as a spectator or through my limited experience with the refereeing, is that it’s a really strong league with some really good players and it’s developing.”
Boston is an absorbing, sports-mad city and Kelly is well-versed in the local parlance.
He’s caught a Celtics game, a trip to Fenway Park is being planned and he’s desperately trying to wangle a ticket for the in-form Bruins.
But, he’s never too detached from events back home either.
“The League of Ireland season started on the same weekend as MLS did and in the era of modern technology, I have all the apps.
“League of Ireland football was part of my upbringing and has been a substantial part of my life. It’s something that definitely won’t be forgotten about.”
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