Ray Keeley joined Exeter City towards the end of the 1965/66 season from Charlton Athletic and played in the majority of games during the following season. He then left for Crawley Town before returning to the Football League with Mansfield Town. 

Ray was an apprentice at Charlton Athletic before becoming a full professional in December 1964. After just one league outing for the club, he joined Exeter City in March 1966 for a fee of £1,000 on a busy transfer deadline day as City strived to avoid relegation. 

Appearing first to make a goalscoring debut against Mansfield Town, as the Grecians faced a heavy fixture backlog, Ray played in around half of the remaining sixteen games as City failed to beat the drop. 

 In the starting line-up from the opening game of the season Ray made 38 league appearances (plus one as substitute) during his second season as City readjusted to life in Division Four. Ray’s nine league goals meant that he finished as second highest scorer behind Dixie McNeil.

As City had something of a clear-out at the end of the season, Ray was given a free transfer and dropped into non-league football with Crawley Town before returning to the professional ranks with Mansfield Town in June 1968 where he was to make 52 league appearances (5 goals) as well as participating in the Stags’ run to the fifth round of the FA Cup in 1968/69. 

He moved back to the Southern League in the summer of 1970 when signing for Poole Town.