He joined Stoke City in January 1990 and at the Victoria Ground Kelly was never a regular but did play in the 1992 Football League Trophy Final victory over Stockport County.
After playing football with the school team Kelly and his brother joined a Sunday League side, Coundon Cockerels managed by a Scotsman, Dave McLeod.
[2] The pair travelled with Errington to Bristol where they met the Rovers manager Bobby Gould and after a couple of training sessions they played in a South East Counties League match against West Ham United.
[2] After meeting with the rest of the squad they moved into a lodgings paid by the club to accommodate youth team players and he was informed that his behaviour would be closely monitored.
[2] At Stratford was his brother Abby and together they played in the Midland Combination League whilst he also worked as a banqueting porter at the Hotel Leofric.
[2] He also began playing for Dulwich Hamlet whose first-team included Alan Pardew, Andy Gray and Paul Harding but Mel soon left for Corinthian-Casuals.
[2] He began playing with Cheshunt where he finished the 1987–88 season as top-scorer and also changed his name again this time to Nyrere Anthony Okpara Kelly.
By now his brother Errington had moved to Sweden to play for Grebbestads IF and after Kelly went over to visit him he began writing to Swedish clubs's offering them his services.
To his surprise St Albans received a loan offer from Swedish Second Division side Gimonäs CK which Kelly quickly accepted.
[2] On his return to London, Kelly resumed his job at Eastern Electricity and also continued to go to betting shops and play for St Albans City.
After he moved to Stoke-on-Trent from London he was shown around the Victoria Ground and was given free accommodation at a local hotel and he was also given a £10,000 signing on fee but he spent most of it gambling.
Macari's intense fitness sessions worked well with Kelly who made his biggest contribution in a Stoke shirt on 25 September 1991 when he scored a late equaliser in a 2–2 draw with Liverpool in the League Cup at Anfield.
Three days later the two sides met again this time in the Football League Trophy final at Wembley Stadium a Mark Stein goal earning Stoke a 1–0 win.
[1] Kelly joined Bury in September 1993 playing 37 times in 1993–94 scoring eight goals and then helped the "Shakers" reach the Third Division play-offs in 1995 losing 2–0 to Chesterfield in the final.
Whilst at St Albans he worked as a part-time agent with Mel and helped his cousin Leon earn a professional contract at Cambridge United.