Kelly gained his sole senior international cap for England in May 2012 and was part of the Three Lions’ squad for that summer’s European Championship.
His progress was stymied by an anterior cruciate ligament injury suffered early in the following season and, after playing eight times during the Reds’ memorable 2013-14 campaign, Kelly left for Crystal Palace.
He made 148 appearances for Palace before joining West Bromwich Albion in the summer of 2022. A loan move to Wigan Athletic followed, but Kelly sustained another serious knee injury on debut for the Latics and has now formally called time on his playing career.
Kelly told The Athletic: “I’ve never actually got around to writing the social media post to announce it; I’ve only told friends and family, but yeah, I’ve retired.
“It was March when I sat down with the family and told them I was thinking about it. Around the same time, I got asked to play for Liverpool in a legends game against Chelsea. One of the stipulations was that you had to be retired, so that just reaffirmed my decision.”
Kelly is set to again represent Liverpool FC Legends against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
Everyone at LFC wishes him the best of luck for the future.
