Danny Kelly (journalist)


Danny Kelly is a British music journalist, sports presenter, and internet publisher. He is the former editor of the music weekly New Musical Express.
Danny Kelly was born in Islington and attended Our Lady of Sacred Heart in Eden Grove and then St Aloysius College, Highgate. Kelly has worked in print and radio journalism for over twenty years. He began writing for New Musical Express in about 1983 and was its editor from the late 1980s to 1992. After that he edited the British music monthly, Q, and was awarded the title British Magazine Editor of the Year for his work there. He left in 1995. He also launched the sports monthly Total Sport. He often works in partnership with fellow sports fan and radio journalist Danny Baker, who is also an NME alumnus, having broadcast in both local/national commercial and BBC radio.
In the mid-1990s Kelly hosted Under the Moon, a live late-night television sports chat and entertainment show that often ran for three or more hours. In 1997, he founded the 365 Corporation, best known for the leading UK football website, Football365.
In 2006, he helped launch Videojugs, a video up/download service that seeks to demonstrate all human knowledge on film. He also launched The Times' first weekly podcast, The Game. He currently presents an award-winning radio sports show on BBC London and hosted a weekly football podcast with Danny Baker. The football podcast ended in December 2007.
He has appeared in two films: Divorcing Jack and The Football Factory.
Kelly spent a period of time commencing December 2007 as stand-in presenter for Hawksbee & Jacobs, Evening Kick Off and George Galloway on talkSPORT radio. He joined the station to front Lets kick the ball during Euro 2008 between 19:00-22:00 every weekday. Kelly signed a permanent contract with talkSPORT in early August to front the same slot during the regular football season. Kelly often remarks that he played football in his youth on Hackney Marshes.
His current show is The Full Time Phone-In every Saturday night from 19:30 to 22:00 in case no sporting events are going on; and Trans-Euro Express every Sunday night from 20:00 to 22:00.
Danny Kelly referred to Rafael Benitez as a 'nonce' live on air during a Talk Sport broadcast on 8 January 2011. OFCOM received 130 complaints about the comments. Kelly is a Tottenham Hotspur fan and appears in the June 2010 issue of Hotspurs Magazine as the celebrity fan.
In 2013, Kelly and Danny Baker were announced as part of BT Sport's football coverage, hosting a Friday evening show.