Bevan Kelly
From Junior Champion to Goldfields Great
All Star Team
Premiership Player
BCFC F&B
GFL F&B
A Tiger Champion. A Premiership Player. A Sporting All-Rounder
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Boulder Tigers Digital Museum | Player Profiles
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Some footballers spend an entire career chasing the game's highest individual honours.
Others announce themselves almost immediately. Bevan “Bubby” Kelly was one of those rare footballers whose extraordinary talent was evident from his teenage years.
In just three seasons, Bevan progressed from the finest junior footballer in the Goldfields to one of the competition's most celebrated senior players. And he was only 19. But that remarkable rise was just the beginning of a sporting career that would leave its mark on both football and cricket in the Goldfields.
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1956–1958 — Three Years, Three Outstanding Achievements
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Bevan Kelly's emergence through the Boulder City ranks was nothing short of remarkable. 1956 — Junior Fairest & Best At just 17 years of age, Bevan won the Col Baker Trophy, awarded to the Goldfields National Football League's outstanding junior footballer. It was the first major indication that Boulder had a special talent on its hands.
1957 — Boulder City League Fairest & Best
Just twelve months later, at 18, Bevan had made the transition to senior football and was already the Tigers' leading player. Winning the club's League Fairest & Best at that age was an exceptional achievement. 1958 — The Goldfields' Best Footballer Then came the crowning moment.
At only 19 years of age, Bevan Kelly won the 1958 Fletcher Medal, recognising him as the Goldfields competition's Fairest & Best footballer. From junior champion to club champion to league champion.
Three consecutive seasons. Three major individual honours. All before his twentieth birthday. It remains a remarkable progression in Boulder City's football history.
1959 — A Premiership Tiger
Individual honours are treasured, but football is ultimately a team game. In 1959, Bevan added another significant achievement to his growing record when he became a member of Boulder's League Premiership team. For a young footballer who had already collected the game's highest individual awards, a premiership was another milestone. The Tigers had a champion who could deliver both individual brilliance and team success.
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The Footballer — A Magnificent Left-Foot Kick
Those who watched Bevan play remembered more than his awards. He was a strong, stocky footballer with outstanding judgement, tremendous defensive ability and a powerful left foot. His kicking was something special. In a historical account of Goldfields football, brothers Pat and Merv Kennedy described Bevan as one of the finest kicks they had seen, comparing that aspect of his game with the great Barry Cable. It was high praise indeed.
Bevan combined that exceptional kicking ability with the versatility to influence a match from several positions.
Whether working through the centre, across half-back or further afield, he possessed the football intelligence and skill to make a difference.
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1961 — A Taste of League Football in Perth
Bevan's talent was recognised beyond the Goldfields. In 1961, he travelled to Perth and played two League games for East Perth in the Western Australian Football League.
Although his WAFL appearance record was brief, it represented another significant achievement for a country footballer. He had earned the opportunity to test himself at one of the highest levels of football in Western Australia. But his story with Boulder City was far from finished.
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1963 — The Tigers' Main Tutor
On Monday, 27 May 1963, The Kalgoorlie Miner carried a headline celebrating Boulder's victory over Railways:
“TIGERS” AND TED ROBINSON GET THEIR REVENGE
Beneath it appeared another headline: “Bevan Kelly The Main Tutor In Football Lesson To Railways”
The newspaper praised Kelly's outstanding performance, particularly his work around the pivot and three-quarter positions, as Boulder defeated Railways by 21 points. It was another reminder of the influence Bevan could exert on a football match.
Later that season, he was again recognised as Boulder City's League Fairest & Best, adding a second senior club award to his achievements. Five years after winning the Goldfields' highest individual honour, Bevan remained one of the Tigers' most important players.
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The Sixties — So Close, So Often
The 1960s became a frustrating decade for Boulder City at League level. The Tigers reached five League Grand Finals — 1961, 1963, 1966, 1968 and 1969 — without winning a premiership. Bevan's career overlapped this period of near misses, including the 1963 Grand Final campaign. It was an era when Boulder regularly challenged the competition's strongest clubs, only to fall short on the biggest stage. For Bevan, the 1959 premiership remained a particularly treasured achievement. He had experienced the ultimate team success before the Tigers entered a decade in which premiership opportunities proved painfully elusive.
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Giving Something Back
By the early 1970s, Bevan was putting his football knowledge and experience back into the club.
He became involved in coaching Boulder's junior teams, helping guide young footballers taking their first steps in the game. It was a fitting continuation of his Tiger journey. The boy who had won the Goldfields junior Fairest & Best in 1956 was now helping develop the next generation. Few people were better qualified to explain what it took to progress from junior football to the highest individual honours in the competition.
An All-Star Tiger
When Boulder City selected its All-Star Team, Bevan Kelly's name was among those honoured.
He was chosen in the pivotal centre position, recognition of the standing he had earned among the club's finest footballers. It was a fitting tribute to a player whose career combined outstanding individual honours, premiership success, exceptional football skills and lasting service to the Tigers.
The Complete Sporting Story
Bevan Kelly's achievements deserve to be considered together.
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A junior Fairest & Best at 17.
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Boulder's best senior player at 18.
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The Goldfields' finest footballer at 19.
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A 1959 League Premiership player.
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A two-time Boulder City League Fairest & Best.
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An East Perth League footballer.
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A Boulder City All-Star Team selection.
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A junior coach who gave back to his club.
And beyond football, a nine-time A Grade cricket premiership player with more than 4,400 runs and 380 wickets.
It is an extraordinary record. Yet perhaps Bevan's greatest distinction is that his talent was recognised so early — and his excellence continued across two sports for so many years. From the club's best junior, to Boulder's best senior, to the Goldfields' very best. Bevan “Bubby” Kelly earned his place among the great sporting names of the Goldfields. And among the great Tigers of Boulder City Football Club.
A Champion in Two Sports
While Bevan Kelly's football achievements were exceptional, they tell only half his sporting story. He was also one of the Goldfields' outstanding cricketers.
Representing Lake View Cricket Club, Bevan played 16 seasons of A Grade cricket between 1954–55 and 1970–71. An accomplished all-rounder, he was a regular opening batsman alongside Merv Hosking and an extremely successful spin bowler. His career statistics are impressive.
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A Grade Cap No. 39
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167 matches
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4,426 runs at an average of 25.7
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Two centuries and 22 half-centuries
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Highest score: 109
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383 wickets at an average of 13.02
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Thirteen five-wicket hauls
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Best bowling: 7/46
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91 catches
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Nine A Grade Premierships
Nine premierships in one sporting career is an extraordinary achievement. Bevan was an integral member of Lake View's four consecutive A Grade premierships from 1959–60 through to 1962–63. He also represented the Goldfields in Country Week cricket, featuring in the winning teams of 1958 and 1969. In addition, Bevan played in three Goldfields representative matches against the WACA — in 1960, 1963 and 1966. The 1963 Goldfields side famously defeated the WACA. Football champion. Premiership cricketer. Outstanding batsman and bowler.
Bevan Kelly was a genuine two-sport Goldfields sporting great.
The Kelly Family — More Than One Tiger Bevan was not the only member of the Kelly family to wear the Black and Gold. His brothers Grenville and Phil also represented Boulder City, adding another family connection to the club's history. Like so many great Tiger families, their involvement reminds us that the Boulder story has always been built around more than individual players.
It is also a story of families, shared loyalties and generations of involvement.
