Kelly started his career coming through the youth ranks at Chester City and had a brief loan spell at Vauxhall Motors, before returning to The Deva Stadium and progressing into the senior team.

He impressed and became an important player for the Seals, who were at the time a League Two outfit, and in total, Kelly represented Chester 43 times before leaving the club following their relegation and eventual expulsion from the Conference.

After departing Chester in early 2010, Kelly initially had a trial spell with Port Vale where he impressed opposition manager Paul Peschisolido in a fixture against his Burton Albion side. Kelly’s performance earned him a move to the Brewers until the end of the season and in total he went on to make 4 appearances.

In July 2010 Kelly left Burton to head for Wales, having a one-year spell at Bala before leaving Maes Tegid to re-locate to Australia.

Whilst in Australia, the commanding defender had a short period at Shepparton United before joining NPL Victoria team South Melbourne as a mid-season signing and actually managed to win the club’s `golden boot`, despite playing at centre-back!

In July 2012, Kelly returned to England on loan with Conference side FC Halifax Town during the Australian off-season, before heading back to Melbourne for the start of their 2013 campaign.

Ahead of the 2015 season, Kelly joined NPL Victoria team Port Melbourne SC and earned the club captaincy before signing for NPL 2 Victoria side Dandenong City alongside his brother James in 2016.

Whilst at Dandenong he was awarded their player of the year accolade and was a league runner-up.

Kelly re-joined Bala in January 2019 after returning to the UK.