He made 33 Championship appearances for the Louth senior football team between 1989 and 2002[1] and is one of the Wee County's leading scorers of all-time.
[2] That same year he would win his first county senior championship medal, scoring four points for the Blues in a 0–7 to 1–03 defeat of Clan na Gael at Castlebellingham.
In February 1989 against Mayo while still attending secondary school, he made his competitive debut for the county senior team aged 17, in a National League Division 2 match played at St. Brigid's Park, Dowdallshill.
He received the Man of the Match award for his performance in the 2000 Louth SFC Final, when Newtown Blues defeated Stabannon Parnells.
[5] After retiring from inter-county football in 2002, Kelly was joint manager of the Louth Under-21s with Colm Nally and Niall O'Donnell for three seasons from 2003 to 2005.