Josh Key became an Exeter City scholar/trainee in 2016 and signed professional terms at Exeter City in February 2018. He played forty-four league games when City won promotion in 2022 and, after featuring regularly during the following campaign, signed for Swansea City in July 2023. 

Josh was attending Cuthbert Mayne school in Torquay and a member of Torquay United’s academy when it closed in 2015. He was one of 120 players subsequently offered trials by Exeter City and, being successful, joined City’s under-16s and transferred to St Peter’s school in Exeter.

In 2017/18 Josh twice sat on the bench for EFL Trophy games without playing, eventually making his debut in the same competition against Bristol Rovers on 13 November 2018. This was followed in 2019/20 by two EFL Trophy appearances against Cheltenham Town and West Ham United under-21. During this phase of his career Josh also had  loan spells at Bideford and Tiverton Town. 

Starting with the League Cup game against Bristol City in September 2020, Josh began to establish himself in the first team during the “behind closed doors” 2020/21 season when he played forty-eight times scoring twice. He followed through with another forty-nine games - including forty-four in the league - when City won promotion in 2021/22. The final game of that successful season - against Port Vale on 7 May 2022 - represented Josh’s 100th first-team game for City.

By this time there had been speculation linking Josh with other clubs, Sunderland and Blackburn included, but Josh remained at St James Park in 2022/23 to enter his third season as a regular member of the first-team. Playing 49 league and cup matches during City's first season back in the third-tier, Josh had reached 148 games in all competitions when he appeared against Morecambe on 7 May 2023 in the final game of the season. Of his seven league goals for the Grecians, six had been scored away from home.  

Declining to sign a new contract, Josh signed for Swansea City in July 2023 with the Grecians due compensation for the loss of his services (a matter that still remained unresolved a year later).  Becoming a regular member of the Swans' squad it emerged that not only was Josh eligible for the Republic of Ireland but that his great-grandfather Myles Abraham (1887-1966; buried in Exeter's Higher Cemetery) had captained Ireland at rugby. 

Not always suffering the best of luck with injuries, Josh started 25 league games during his first season in South Wales with another four appearances off the bench.