Liam Kelly (footballer, born 1990) assists. Later in the 2010–11 season, Paatelainen left the club to manage the Finland national team and was replaced by Kenny Shiels. In the 2011–12 season, Shiels played Kelly into the various position in midfield. On 18 March, Kelly played in the 2012 Scottish League Cup Final which Kilmarnock won after beating Celtic 1–0. Shortly before Kilmarnock were due to celebrate lifting the cup, Kelly's father suffered a heart attack next to the Kilmarnock dugout and the player left the ground to go to hospital with him. Kelly's father later died in hospital and his teammates, who had not been
Kenny Shiels Securely in charge, Shiels led the club to an 8–0 drubbing of Newry Town in the next match, the second of what proved to be a twenty match unbeaten league run. With his younger brother Sammy Shiels, who had played under Kenny Shiels' management at Carrick, leading the line in scoring 25 league goals, Coleraine won the title, and thus promotion, a full fifteen points ahead of runners-up Ballymena United. The club would also win the inaugural Irish News Cup, a competition for Irish League and League of Ireland clubs in North-West Ireland, that same season. The following season began