Career
He was secretary of The Football League from 1978 to 1989 and chief executive of The Football Association (FA) from 1989 to 1998. In December 1998, he resigned from the FA, along with chairman Keith Wiseman, when a scandal broke out over an allegedly improper £3.2 million loan from the FA to the Football Association of Wales (FAW). In February 1999, after Fédération internationale de football association conducted an investigation, Kelly and Wiseman were subsequently cleared of wrongdoing.