[1] Originally from Trentham, Kelly began playing senior football for Kyneton in 1979.
[3] In 1982 he was at Victorian Football Association club Preston and was a member of the team which lost that year's grand final to Port Melbourne.
[2] He spent the next two seasons coaching Hepburn and led to club to the 1989 premiership.
[2] Kelly won Kyneton's best and fairest award again in 1992 and for a third time in 2000, his final season.
[2][6] He was inducted into the Bendigo Football League Hall of Fame in 2010, for his 265-game career at Kyneton.