He made 182 appearances for the Spiders in all competitions, scoring 11 goals, and held the captain's armband from 2006 until he left the club.
On 2 May 2015, he scored the winning kick in a penalty shootout, after a 2–2 aggregate draw, as Brora defeated Lowland League champions Edinburgh City in a promotion play-off.
[9] After Owen Coyle resigned in March 2018, Kettlewell and academy director Steve Ferguson were appointed co-managers at Ross County.
[11] Kettlewell was sacked on 19 December 2020, after a 2–0 defeat against Hamilton left the club four points adrift at the bottom of the 2020–21 Scottish Premiership table and had won only one of their last 16 league games.
[20] Kettlewell resigned as Motherwell manager on 27 January 2025 citing the personal abuse he and his family had received from some of the fans, and left the club 5th in the premiership table.