| Caoimhín Kelleher | |
| Full Name: | Caoimhín Odhrán Kelleher |
| Birth Date: | 23 November 1998[1] |
| Birth Place: | Cork, Ireland |
| Height: | 1.88 m[2] |
| Position: | Goalkeeper |
| Currentclub: | Liverpool |
| Clubnumber: | 62 |
| Youthclubs1: | Ringmahon Rangers |
| Youthyears2: | 2015–2019 |
| Youthclubs2: | Liverpool |
| Years1: | 2019– |
| Clubs1: | Liverpool |
| Caps1: | 22 |
| Goals1: | 0 |
| Nationalyears1: | 2021– |
| Nationalteam1: | Republic of Ireland |
| Nationalcaps1: | 20 |
| Nationalgoals1: | 0 |
| Club-Update: | 17:54, 1 December 2024 (UTC) |
| Nationalteam-Update: | 18:57, 17 November 2024 (UTC) |
Caoimhín Odhrán Kelleher (;[3] born 23 November 1998) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Liverpool and the Republic of Ireland national team. He is also widely considered as one of the best backup goalkeepers of all time.
Caoimhín Odhrán Kelleher[4] was born on 23 November 1998[2] in Cork, County Cork,[5] where he attended Presentation Brothers College.[6]
Kelleher joined Liverpool's academy from Ringmahon Rangers in summer 2015. He featured regularly for Liverpool's side during their pre-season programme of 2018 and was part of the squad that travelled to the United States for Liverpool's summer tour.[7]
In August 2018, he signed a new contract with Liverpool.[8] He was an unused substitute for the 2019 UEFA Champions League final against Tottenham Hotspur.[9] In winning the Champions League, he became the 12th Irish footballer to do so and the first for over a decade.[10]
Though he was recovering from wrist surgery, Kelleher was on the bench for Liverpool's victory in the 2019 UEFA Super Cup against Chelsea in Istanbul due to the absence of first-choice Alisson.[11] [12] He made his competitive debut for the club on 25 September 2019 in an EFL Cup Third Round match, keeping a clean sheet against League One side Milton Keynes Dons, in a 2–0 away win.[13]
On 1 December 2020, he started and kept a clean sheet in a 1–0 victory against Ajax in the Champions League.[14] [15] Five days later, Kelleher was named in the starting line-up for a Premier League match against Wolverhampton Wanderers.[16] He kept a clean sheet in the match, a 4–0 win, which was his third consecutive shutout for the club.[17] At 22 years and 13 days, Kelleher became the third-youngest Liverpool goalkeeper to keep a Premier League clean sheet and the youngest to do so on his first league start.[17] After several strong performances, manager Jürgen Klopp confirmed that Kelleher had been promoted to second choice, behind Alisson and ahead of Adrián.[18] It was also reported that Liverpool were seeking to sign Kelleher to a new long-term contract on improved terms.[19]
On 24 June 2021, Kelleher signed a new long-term deal with the club until 2026, saying "For me, it was a positive moment to commit my future to the club for the next few years. It's such a big club and it's an honour to be a part of it, so when I got the chance to sign for a few more years I was obviously delighted."[20] On 27 February 2022, Kelleher started in the 2022 EFL Cup final and scored the decisive penalty in the 11–10 penalty shoot-out win against Chelsea.[21] [22]
On 9 November 2022, Kelleher made his first start of the 2022–23 season and saved three penalties in a 3–2 penalty shoot-out win against Derby County in the third round of the 2022–23 EFL Cup at Anfield. He has now saved a total of six penalties in four shootouts for Liverpool, a club record. Four of his eight appearances in the EFL Cup have gone to penalties with Liverpool winning all of them.[23]
On 1 June 2023, Republic of Ireland national team boss Stephen Kenny said he expected Kelleher to leave Liverpool because he had been given so few opportunities to play. "He has been starved of games this year and that has been a problem for him", Kenny said.[24] On 27 September, Kelleher played in the 3–1 win against Leicester City in the 2023–24 EFL Cup and wore the captain's armband for the last 12 minutes of the game when stand-in captain Curtis Jones was substituted.[25] Kelleher started in the 2024 EFL Cup final at Wembley, in which a Virgil van Dijk header in the 118th minute secured the trophy against Chelsea and Kelleher keeping a clean sheet with several reflex saves throughout the match.
Following an injury to Alisson in October 2024, Kelleher played several matches including a home tie with Real Madrid in the Champions League.[26] [27] He saved a penalty in the match from Kylian Mbappé to maintain Liverpool's lead in the 2–0 home win.[27] The penalty save, coupled with another penalty save earlier against Southampton in the Premier League, broke the club's 115-year history for two consecutive penalty saves by a goalkeeper.[28]
Kelleher featured for the Republic of Ireland U17s in the 2015 UEFA European Under-17 Championship. He was capped by his country at under-17 level in 2014, making his debut against Malta. He has also been capped at under-19 and under-21 level.[29]
On 6 November 2018, he was named in the senior Republic of Ireland squad for the first time for the friendly match against Northern Ireland on 15 November and the UEFA Nations League match against Denmark on 19 November 2018.[30]
On 8 June 2021, Kelleher made his senior Ireland debut, coming on as a half-time substitute against Hungary in a 0–0 draw.[31] He was then included in the lineup for a friendly against Qatar in October 2021.[32]
On 14 November 2024, Kelleher saved Joel Pohjanpalo's penalty in the 77th minute in Ireland's Nations League qualifying game against Finland which led them to a third-place playoff spot in the competition.[33] [34]
Kelleher's older brother Fiacre is also a footballer.[35] [36] He has three other older brothers who played hurling.[37]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | EFL Cup | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Liverpool | 2018–19 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2019–20 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | ||
| 2020–21 | Premier League | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | ||
| 2021–22 | Premier League | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 8 | 0 | |||
| 2022–23 | Premier League | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | ||
| 2023–24 | Premier League | 10 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 0 | — | 26 | 0 | |||
| 2024–25 | Premier League | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 11 | 0 | |||
| Total | 22 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 58 | 0 | |||
| Liverpool U21 | 2020-21 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||||
| Career total | 22 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 59 | 0 | |||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republic of Ireland | 2021 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2022 | 7 | 0 | ||
| 2023 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2024 | 9 | 0 | ||
| Total | 20 | 0 | ||
Liverpool
2018–19;[42] runner-up: 2021–22[43]