Kettle was an English schools international when he signed for Leeds City as a junior during the First World War.

With City having won the Midland Section tournament in the spring of 1918, and on the way to adding the Subsidiary title, Kettle was given a first-team debut on 6 April at Bradford Park Avenue. He played outside-left, a position that had troubled City all season, and was the ninth man to fill the role. City won the game 2-1 but Kettle joined the Army a week later, so never got the chance to follow up. The game was his only one for City's senior side.

Kettle returned to his native South Shields after he was demobbed and then signed for First Division Newcastle United in 1919, but left without playing for their first-team.

After a spell with Ebbw Vale, he enjoyed a brief period of success in the Third Division South with Southend and then went into the Northern Section with Grimsby in 1922; he remained in that division when he signed for Southport a year later and then Wigan Borough, where he remained for three years before retiring in 1926.

Kettle died in 1980.