 Never afraid to stand-up to authority, when he was reprimanded by Scott with the words, "My grandmother could have played better out there" Kelly adjusted the following week's team-sheet, putting a line through his own name and replacing it with "Lish's granny".Kelly made his final appearances for the club during their spring 1949 tour of the United States; during that tour, Belfast Celtic defeated Scotland 2–0 with Kelly in goal.By this time, Belfast Celtic were embroiled in financial problems and about to quit the Irish League and were eventually disbanded.