The Liverpool midfielder took a couple of touches to steady himself and then unleashed a stunning 25-yard strike that flew in off the post.
It happened on the international stage this week, at a vast stadium holding about 78,000 people, but it wasn’t a piece from brilliance from a star name such as Dominik Szoboszlai or Florian Wirtz. In fact, unless you’re an avid watcher of Liverpool’s academy teams there’s a good chance you won’t have heard of him.
Kyle Kelly finds himself in the rare position of playing men’s international football without having made a single senior club appearance in his career.
The 20-year-old was born and grew up in the English town of Northampton, 150 miles south-east of Liverpool, but qualifies for Saint Kitts and Nevis, the dual-island Caribbean nation who are 152nd in FIFA’s rankings, via grandparents on his dad Damien’s side of the family. Eric Evelyn, Damien’s cousin, is the deputy premier of Nevis.
Officials contacted Kelly on social media to establish whether he would be interested in representing them and he jumped at the opportunity, making his debut in a 3-1 win over San Marino two years ago. It meant switching allegiances having previously represented England at youth level.
Kelly picked up his eighth cap in Monday’s 4-2 victory over the Solomon Islands, which was the third-place play-off in a FIFA Series event in Indonesia also involving the hosts and Bulgaria.
There was a sparse crowd inside Jakarta’s vast Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, but Kelly lit the game up with his first international goal with 15 minutes to go. The technique was exquisite as the ball swerved away from the goalkeeper, which makes it all the more remarkable that it was Kelly’s first goal in any competitive fixture since scoring for Liverpool Under-18s against Everton in November 2022.
No wonder he didn’t know how to celebrate before being mobbed by his jubilant team-mates. He had also played 90 minutes in a 4-0 defeat to Indonesia three days earlier, which attracted a crowd of 26,703.
It has been an unconventional footballing journey for Kelly. Growing up in Northampton, his performances in junior club football attracted attention from Premier League scouts. He was at Tottenham Hotspur from the age of nine until 11, but did not sign officially for the London club.
Kyle Kelly plays for Liverpool’s U21s in the Vertu Trophy in 2025 (Annabel Lee-Ellis/Getty Images)
His father did not want his son to be fully part of the academy system until he was at least 14. He wanted him to focus on his education and enjoy football in his spare time rather than have it take over his life.
It meant that when he was picked to play for England Under-15s he was informed by national team coaching staff that it was the first time they had selected someone who wasn’t officially attached to a particular club. He scored on his debut against Belgium.
After leaving Tottenham, Kelly spent time training and playing at Manchester United, Liverpool and Leicester City. There had also been interest from Manchester City and Aston Villa.
It was only in 2020, as he was approaching his 15th birthday, that the decision was taken for him to sign forms and join Liverpool’s academy on a permanent basis. He relocated north on his own and, nearly six years on, he continues to live with the same family Liverpool placed him with as a teenager. He excelled at Scarisbrick Hall private school, close to the Lancashire town of Ormskirk, and passed his maths GCSE a year early.
On the field, his versatility impressed coaching staff at Kirkby as he shone as a No 10, in midfield and wide on the left. However, his development was derailed by knee pain from Osgood-Schlatter, a common condition in young athletes caused by inflammation where the patellar tendon attaches to the shinbone.
There was a further blow when cartilage damage in his knee forced him to undergo surgery in February 2025 and it was nine months before he played again.
Since the turn of the year, he’s been fully fit and has blossomed after being given the holding midfield role by the Liverpool Under-21s head coach, Rob Page. Kelly had clocked up 11 successive appearances for Page’s side in Premier Two before going away on international duty.
“Kyle has come into his own recently,” Page told LFCTV following last month’s 4-2 win over Spurs. “He is so good in the middle of the park. He is a manager’s dream because he sees the play, breaks it up and then gives it to the lads who then get us up the pitch.”
Kelly has been promoted to train with Arne Slot’s senior squad at times in recent months, with the Dutch head coach praising the youngster for his impact.
However, his long-term future is unclear. Kelly’s contract runs out in the summer and he is eager to be playing senior club football. He must decide whether to stay at Liverpool or embark on a new challenge elsewhere.
After the long journey home from Indonesia this week, Kelly will return to under-21s duty at Kirkby as they prepare for the impending play-offs. It may lack the glamour of the international arena, but if he can build on what he’s achieved in recent months, his profile will only grow.