Feature: Life goals important to Lloyd

Although the 21-year-old is now enjoying the trappings of being a professional footballer, his journey has been anything but a walk in the park.

While working his way through the youth ranks at Bristol City, Kelly, together with his brother and sister, lived with three different sets of foster parents.

And having been propelled into the first-team ranks after leaving secondary school at 16, Kelly was then given what he describes as “a real eye-opener”.

Kelly, who skippered the Cherries during their Carabao Cup penalty shootout victory over Crystal Palace on Tuesday, takes up the story in an interview with afcb.co.uk: “I visited some orphanages in Botswana and it’s an experience which will definitely stay with me forever.

“The opportunity came about through the Community Trust and I put my name forward. I was there for two weeks and it was a completely different world to the one we live in here.

Ticketing Information

All you need to know on our ticketing, opening hours and access around Vitality Stadium.

“But although the children are in a difficult position financially and with where they live, the smiles on their faces were special to see.

“We went there to give a helping hand and painted the inside of their community hall. We gave the kids gifts, only small things like shirts, whistles and footballs, but you could see it meant the world to them.”

As a professional footballer, Kelly is fully aware of his responsibility to be a role model, as shown recently by Manchester United and England striker Marcus Rashford who gave his support to national food charity Fareshare to feed vulnerable people during the coronavirus lockdown.

Asked whether his upbringing had influenced his decision, Kelly replied: “Maybe subconsciously but I’ve always been keen to see what different things I can experience. It was my decision to go and I’m very happy I made it.

“The people closest to me know I always want to give a helping hand when I can and I want to do as much as I can for the community.

“It’s something I’ll definitely look to do in the future when things are different. But I’ve already got my mind ticking over for things I can do to help the community in Bristol because it has a special place in my heart.”

Although Kelly understandably preferred not to go into details as to why he and his siblings were put into foster care, the defender said he would not have changed a thing: “I was about seven or eight at the time and we lived with three different families over about a 10-year period.

“We were with the most recent family for five years and I still keep in contact with them. We are still very close and they have been coming to games here over the past year or so.

“You could say it was a different upbringing to other kids but, if it hadn’t been for them, I definitely wouldn’t be in the position I’m in now. I’m very grateful and definitely wouldn’t change anything.”

Kelly’s experiences off the pitch gave him perspective as he battled through a challenging and injury-interrupted first season at Vitality Stadium following his move from Bristol City last summer.

Blighted by ankle, thigh and hamstring problems, he finally made his Premier League debut in June and caught the eye with a series of impressive showings following the restart.

He said: “It wasn’t the best season for me but I ended it positively. We didn’t know what was going to happen with the situation of being relegated and Eddie Howe leaving.

“Although I didn’t feature in as many games as I would have wanted, he had a lot of faith in me when I came back and that’s something that’s not changed with the new manager. There has always been that faith and I will do my best to give it back on the pitch.

“The new manager showed faith in me by making me captain against Crystal Palace and it was a good feeling to lead the boys in that game.

“I see myself as a leader on the pitch, I’ve done it previously with England under-20s and it’s something I want to continue to try to do as much as I can.”

Kelly will be hoping to keep his place when the Cherries face Middlesbrough on Saturday, the Riverside holding mixed memories from his time at Bristol City.

He said: “A game there in April 2018 sticks in my head. I was left-back and Adama Traore was on the right wing and he caused me a bit of trouble to say the least!

“I’m pretty sure he caused a couple of others trouble as well and although we tried to double up on him, he still managed to make his way out of those situations.

“We went there towards the end of the 2018/19 season and an important win took us up to fifth place.

“We were in a good position to close out the season but it didn’t end as we would have hoped. We didn’t make the most of the situation we had been in but it was just one of those things.

“The Championship is relentless. You play more games, especially if you progress in cup competitions as well.

“In the Premier League, it’s mainly Saturday to Saturday. But in the Championship, you have Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday a lot of the time. It will be different this season with the tight schedule but it’s still going to be relentless.

“You can never predict who is going to go up or down and it always comes down to the last few games, even the last one.

“One week, you can be sitting in 10^th place and, the next, you are in the play-off places after just one win.

“We all know it’s going to be a tight season and we will do our best to try to put ourselves in a good position. We want to go for promotion, we want to go straight back up and that’s everyone’s aim.”