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Hounds Sign Championship’s All-Time Leading Scorer Dane Kelly

By USLChampionship.com Staff, 01/07/22, 12:03PM EST

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Jamaican veteran has recorded 99 regular-season goals in career, was voted MVP in 2017 season


Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC has signed Dane Kelly, the USL Championship's all-time leading scorer with 99 regular season goals, ahead of the 2022 season. | Photo courtesy Charlotte Independence

PITTSBURGH – Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC announced on Friday it had signed veteran striker Dane Kelly, the USL Championship’s all-time leading goalscorer, to a one-year deal with a club option for 2023. The signing is pending league and federation approval.

Kelly, 30, has been synonymous with success in the USL Championship, winning the league title with the Charleston Battery in 2012, earning both the Golden Boot and the Championship’s Most Valuable Player award with Reno 1868 FC in 2017, and running his record goal haul to 99 regular-season goals since first entering the league in 2011 with the Battery.

“Dane is a top-level pro in the USL and a proven goalscorer,” said Hounds Head Coach Bob Lilley. “He will add more quality to a very strong group of attackers, and we're excited to welcome him for the 2022 USL Championship season.”

A native of St. Catherine Parish, Jamaica, Kelly began his career in his homeland with Tivoli Gardens FC and was initially loaned to the Battery before making a permanent move to Charleston. After five years and 42 goals with the Battery from 2011-15, he would spend time in USL with Sporting Kansas City II (2016), Reno 1868 FC (2017), Indy Eleven (2019) and the Charlotte Independence (2020-21).

Outside of the Championship, Kelly spent 2018 under contract with D.C. United in MLS, spending part of the season in the Championship on loan with the Richmond Kickers. He began 2021 with Bnei Sakhnin in the Israeli Premier League before returning to Charlotte in May.

Kelly’s strength has been his consistency as a finisher, logging seven double-digit goal seasons during his career with a career-best of 18 during his Golden Boot season in Reno.

Kelly also has made four appearances with the Jamaican National Team since debuting with the Reggae Boyz in 2017. He recorded a goal and an assist in his second international match, a 2-2 draw with South Korea, and later added his second international goal in a Concacaf Nations League qualifier against Bonaire.

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