Early years McKellar began his career in his native
Scotland with junior clubs
Saltcoats Victoria and
Kilwinning Rangers, securing a move to English
First Division club
Ipswich Town in September 1972, managed by
Bobby Robson. McKellar made 30 appearances for the
reserve team over the next four years and failed to make a first team appearance. McKellar was also sent out on
loan to lower division clubs
Colchester United and
Peterborough United and failed to make an appearance for either. He departed
Portman Road in May 1976, after suffering from homesickness. While with Ardrossan Winton Rovers, Nairn County of the Scottish Highland Football League made enquiries for McKeller but no business was concluded due to the distance involved between McKellers home in Irvine and Nairn in the Highlands.
Derby County A second chance at
Football League level materialised for McKellar in 1978, in the form of a £2,500 move to First Division club
Derby County on 8 April 1978. He had to wait until 16 December 1978 to make his debut, which came in a 2–0 defeat to
Arsenal at
Highbury. He went on to enjoy a run in the team, making 17 appearances in what remained of the
1978–79 season. After failing to make an appearance during the first month of the
1980–81 season, He made 43 appearances during two years at the
Baseball Ground. McKellar made a career-high 50 appearances during the
1981–82 season, Signed as backup for
Alan Rough, the move reunited McKellar with Hibs assistant manager
Tommy Craig, a former teammate at Carlisle United. impressing enough to be offered a permanent contract by the latter club, which fell through after the sacking of manager
Willie McFaul. He made 41 appearances as the Accies suffered relegation straight back to the
Scottish League First Division. Unable to keep
Rikki Ferguson out of the team on a regular basis, McKellar made 16 appearances in the First Division prior to departing
Douglas Park in early 1988. He made 59 appearances for Hamilton. After failing to make an appearance in the early part of the
1988–89 season and spending time on loan at
Fourth Division club
Hartlepool United, Across his two spells with Carlisle, McKellar made 163 appearances. Looking back in 2011, McKellar said "I really loved the club, as there was a lovely atmosphere, because we had such a small squad, so we all had to pull together". He made just one league appearance during the 1990–91 season and departed at the end of the campaign. McKellar retired from football at the end of the season. == International career ==