James Kelly (25 January 1865 – 20 February 1932) was a Scottish footballer who played for Renton, Celtic and Scotland. Born in Renton, James lived in Blantyre for most of his life. He was well known not just for his sporting accomplishments and being Celtic’s first ever Captain, but also due to his many business interests in Blantyre and the various committees he sat on.
There’s a great description of James in the newspaper in 1892 when he was lined up to play for Scotland against England.
J. Kelly (Centre half) – One of Scotland’s brightest League lights, whose lamps are always trimmed and ready, and whose shoulders the hand of time has failed to bend. His speed is still undiminished, and so is his fame. He dearly loves the Englishmen—when he drops them gently on the turf. His physique is as powerful as ever—a potent tribute to the efficacy of chicken bree and the enervating influence of bottled kola. He resides at High Blantyre where he is held in high esteem, and derives a goodly competence by administering spiritual comforts from a temporal point of view. One of the famous “Champions of the World” Renton team. Caps—England, Renton (1), Celtic (3), 1888, 1889, 1890, 1892; Ireland (forward), Renton (1), 1886.
A bit more about James from Wiki. At Renton, his hometown club, Kelly had won the Scottish Cup twice (1885 and 1888), as well as a beaten finalist in 1886 and a ‘World Champion’ after they defeated West Bromwich Albion in an 1888 challenge match.
Converted from an inside forward to a centre-half of attacking bent in what was an important evolution in tactics developed at Renton, he was the first Celtic captain, playing in their first-ever match, a 5–2 win against Rangers in May 1888 (less than two weeks after playing in Renton’s World Championship game). He added to his medal collection with another Scottish Cup in 1892 alongside former Renton teammate Neil McCallum, becoming the first players to win the competition with two different clubs. Kelly also won the Scottish Football League title in 1892–93, 1893–94 and 1895–96 (and reached three other cup finals, albeit losing them all), playing a major role in the establishment of Celtic as one of the leading clubs in the country.
He was capped nine times by Scotland and scored twice. He also appeared seven times for the Scottish League XI. After retiring as a player, Kelly became a director of Celtic, serving as chairman between 1909 and 1914.
His descendants Bob Kelly, Michael Kelly and Kevin Kelly also became Celtic directors; a son, Frank also briefly played for the club prior to his death in World War I, and in 1934 another Celtic player Willie Hughes married James Kelly’s daughter Bridie, two years after he died.
