Barnsley Born in
Barnsley, South Yorkshire, Kay began his career in the
youth system at his hometown club
Barnsley, signing a professional
contract in October 1999. He ended the
2000–01 season with seven
First Division appearances to his name, and featured just once in the
2001–02 relegation campaign. Initially a midfielder, he was moved to
centre back after
Glyn Hodges took over from
Nigel Spackman as
manager in October 2002. He played 16
Second Division matches in the
2002–03 season. He established himself as the club's utility player following the appointment of manager
Guðjón Þórðarson in June 2003, and in addition to operating across the defence and midfield was also utilised as a target man
striker in January, picking up a man-of-the-match award in that role against
AFC Bournemouth. He scored four goals in 51 appearances across the
2003–04 campaign and was voted the club's Player of the Season. He signed a new one-year contract in June 2004. Speaking in December 2004, manager
Paul Hart said that "it's slightly too early to say whether he'll stay as a centre-half or return to midfield in his career". Still, he was able to say that Kay had "shown that when he is concentrating he is as good as anybody" in both defence and midfield. He scored six goals from 43 appearances in the
2004–05 campaign as Barnsley posted a 13th-place finish. He played 45 times in the
2005–06 season and scored the fourth and final Barnsley penalty in the
play-off final penalty shoot-out victory over
Swansea City at the
Millennium Stadium, in which
Andy Ritchie's "Tykes" gained
promotion to the
Championship. He played 33 matches in the
2006–07 season as Barnsley retained their second tier status with a 20th-place finish, but was rumoured to have had a bust-up with manager
Simon Davey in February. His future with the club was put into doubt three months later after he allegedly broke club rules.
Tranmere Rovers Kay signed a two-year contract with
League One club
Tranmere Rovers in June 2007. He scored seven goals from 43 matches in the
2007–08 season, playing mainly in his natural position of centre-back, which led manager
Ronnie Moore to consider playing him as a goalscoring midfielder. Moore shifted him forward into midfield during the
2008–09 season, and Kay went on to score 12 goals in 53 appearances as Tranmere narrowly missed out on the
play-offs after conceding a late
equaliser at
Scunthorpe United on the final day of the season. Kay was voted as the club's Player of the Season for 2008–09.
Huddersfield Town Kay joined League One club
Huddersfield Town on a two-year contract in May 2009; manager
Lee Clark said that "he is a strong, physical player and we have identified that we need that presence in the side". He spent the
2009–10 season as a first-team regular in midfield, making 46 starts in league and cup competitions. Huddersfield qualified for the play-offs, and were knocked out by
Millwall at the semi-final stage after losing 2–0 on
aggregate. He was reduced to the role of
substitute for parts of the
2010–11 campaign. He did though score both the
extra time equaliser and the winning penalty in the subsequent shoot-out victory over Bournemouth in the play-off semi-final second leg at the
Galpharm Stadium on 18 May. Eleven days later, Huddersfield went on to lose 3–0 to
Peterborough United in the
play-off final at
Old Trafford. Kay signed a new two-year contract in July 2011. He was limited to 28 league matches in the
2011–12 season, and was not in the matchday squad as Town secured promotion with victory over
Sheffield United in the
play-off final at
Wembley Stadium. Manager
Simon Grayson signed centre-backs
Joel Lynch and
Anthony Gerrard in the
summer 2012 transfer window, and subsequently looked to move Kay on to a new club.
Milton Keynes Dons Kay had his contract with Huddersfield cancelled by mutual consent and signed a two-year contract with League One club
Milton Keynes Dons in August 2012. He made 42 appearances across the
2012–13 campaign as the Dons missed out on the play-offs after finishing two places and four points behind sixth-placed
Swindon Town. In September 2013, he underwent surgery to correct a persistent hip problem and was out of action for 12 weeks. He recovered to play a total of 34 matches by the end of the
2013–14 campaign. During this time, he also
sent off three times. He signed a new one-year contract in May 2014, having helped
Karl Robinson's Dons to keep eight clean sheets in his 30 league matches on the way to a tenth-place finish. Kay missed just one of the club's 46 league matches in the
2014–15 season as the Dons secured promotion out of League One with a second-place finish behind champions
Bristol City. He signed a new one-year contract in June 2015. He played 34 Championship matches in the
2015–16 season as the Dons were relegated in 23rd-place. On 5 April, Kay made a late challenge on
Wolverhampton Wanderers striker
Michał Żyro, which left Zyro suffering with multiple
knee ligament damage and over a year-long recovery. In May 2016, Kay was one of four players released from the club following relegation back into League One.
Bury On 19 June 2016, Kay joined League One club
Bury on a two-year contract. Six weeks later he was appointed as club
captain by manager
David Flitcroft. However, Bury endured a poor start to the season, leaving tensions high as Kay and teammate
Tom Soares had to be separated from each other after exchanging heated words following a 5–1 defeat to
AFC Wimbledon at the
Kingsmeadow on 19 November. Bury's form did turn around over the new year though, and Kay praised manager
Chris Brass for changing to a 5–3–2
formation and halting a club record 12-match losing streak and 17-match winless run.
Port Vale On 28 June 2017, Kay secured his release from Bury and signed a two-year contract with
League Two club
Port Vale, who had been relegated after finishing two places and one point behind Bury the previous season. He was appointed as club captain by manager
Michael Brown. He scored a
headed goal on his debut for the "Valiants" in a 3–1 win at
Crawley Town on 5 August. However, he was dropped by new manager
Neil Aspin in October, who also gave the captaincy to
Danny Pugh. Kay did though make a quick return to the first-team playing out-of-position in midfield. On 12 December, he scored the "goal of his life" with a stunning long-range
lob in a 3–2 defeat at
Yeovil Town in the FA Cup. He maintained his new position as a holding central midfield player until the end of February when he was both suspended for picking up ten yellow cards over the campaign and also ruled out of action for a month after undergoing a
hernia operation. He marked his return from injury on 2 April by scoring what would go on to win him the club's goal of the season award, his long-range strike helping to secure a 2–2 draw at local rivals
Crewe Alexandra. Two weeks later he was named on the EFL team of the week for scoring the only goal of a 1–0 win over
Lincoln City. Kay featured 33 times during the
2018–19 season; however, manager
John Askey confirmed that he would not be offering Kay a new contract on 16 May.
Non-League On 16 January 2020, Kay signed a deal to join
National League club
Chorley until the end of the
2019–20 season. He made four appearances for the "Magpies" in the
2019–20 season, which was permanently suspended on 26 March due to the
COVID-19 pandemic in England, with Chorley bottom of the table. On 24 August 2020, Kay joined
Cymru Premier side
Bala Town. He scored five goals from 28 appearances in the
2020–21 season. He featured thirty times in the
2022–23 campaign, including in the 6–0 defeat to
The New Saints in the final of the
Welsh Cup. On 26 May 2023, at the age of 40, Kay signed with
Northern Premier League Division One West club
Runcorn Linnets; he was a former teammate of manager
Billy Paynter. He made 41 appearances in the
2023–24 campaign, scoring four goals, as Runcorn reached the play-off semi-finals, where they were beaten by
City of Liverpool. ==International career==