John 'Jerry' Kerr (1 June 1912 – 8 November 1999) was a Scottish football player and manager, best known as manager of Dundee United from 1959 to 1971. He is credited with taking the club from third bottom of the Scottish League to being an established side in the Scottish top tier. He became the first manager of a British club to win a competitive game in Spain when United won home and away against F.C. Barcelona in the 1966-67 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.
Playing career
A native of
West Lothian
West Lothian ( sco, Wast Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Iar) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and was one of its historic counties. The county was called Linlithgowshire until 1925. The historic county was bounded geographically by the Av ...
, Kerr enjoyed a lengthy playing career as a full-back, predominantly as a part-timer or amateur.
Armadale Thistle / Rangers
From the age of 15, Jerry played for his native
Armadale Thistle
Armadale Thistle Football Club are a football club from the town of Armadale, West Lothian in Scotland. Formed in 1936 and nicknamed ''The Dale'', they are members of the Scottish Junior Football Association and presently play in the .
The ...
. He joined
Rangers
A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to:
* Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...
at the age of 17 but played just one game for the Ibrox club.
Motherwell and Alloa Athletic
His senior playing career began at
Armadale Thistle
Armadale Thistle Football Club are a football club from the town of Armadale, West Lothian in Scotland. Formed in 1936 and nicknamed ''The Dale'', they are members of the Scottish Junior Football Association and presently play in the .
The ...
before he joined
Motherwell
Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lana ...
His next club was St Bernard's in 1937. He captained the
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
side to the
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,East Fife in a second replay.
Dundee United
He became one of new Dundee United manager Bobby McKay's first signings during the close season of 1939 and again was made club captain but only four League matches of season 1939–40 were played before the competition was abandoned. Kerr was one of only three players who remained with United after the outbreak of war, and played as his team progressed to the final of the Emergency War Cup (effectively the Scottish Cup, but with relaxed registration rules due to the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
). He was, however, unlucky to sustain a shoulder injury in the semi-final which kept him out of the final against
Rangers
A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to:
* Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...
Kerr spent two years with Rangers after the war before moving towards a coaching career.
Management
Peebles Rovers and Berwick Rangers
It was in the field of football management where Kerr's true strengths began to emerge. His first post was as player/manager with the East of Scotland League club Peebles Rovers, followed by a spell at Berwick Rangers.
Alloa Athletic
Kerr was appointed manager of Alloa Athletic in 1955, a club where he had spent time as a player. He became known as having an eye for a good player, also having a theory that the bigger the club, the worse the talent-spotting. When at Alloa he assembled a partnership of inside forwards Dennis Gillespie (who he would later take to Tannadice) and John White. Two years later Kerr sold White to
Falkirk
Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow.
Falkirk had a ...
. Tottenham Hotspur a year later spent £20,000 to lure White to North London.
Dundee United
In 1959 United manager Andy McCall (their fifth in less than five years), resigned after leading the part-time club to third bottom place in
Division Two
NCL Division Two
The NCL or National Conference League Division Two (known as the Kingstone Press NCL Division Two)
League winners
{, class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
, -
, colspan=4 style="text-align:center;" , NCL DIVISION TWO
, ...
. Jerry Kerr was the man given the task of reviving the club in April that year.
Kerr's first policy upon joining United was his insistence that his players be full-time, a gamble that could have cost the club dearly. He also insisted that there had to be a properly constituted reserve side and an end to the previous policy of buying in over-the-hill First Division players. Ron Yeats' career took an upward turn from Kerr's appointment. Kerr regarded Yeats as so vital to the fortunes of the team he sought his release to play each Saturday from the military authorities while Yeats served his National Service. In Kerr's 1959–60 first full season in charge,
St Johnstone
St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland which is a member of the Scottish Premiership for the 2022–23 season. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun ''aka'' Saint Johnstoun – an ol ...
finished as champions. United's challengers for the second promotion spot were Hamilton Academical and Queen of the South. Hamilton were beaten 5–1 at Tannadice with seven games to go before a crowd of over 11,000 putting Accies firmly in United's rear view. United went to
Palmerston Park
Palmerston Park is a football stadium on Terregles Street in Dumfries, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is the home ground of Scottish League One club Queen of the South, who have played there since 1919. South of Scotland League club ...
to play the Ivor Broadis inspired Queen of the South with three games to go. United returned home with a 4–4 draw to maintain their one-point advantage over QoS. Promotion was clinched with a last game of the season 1–0 home win against Berwick Rangers before a crowd of near 17,000."Results for Dundee United for 1959-60" London Hearts /ref> This brought First Division football to Tannadice for the first time since they had been relegated in 1932.
In the following 1960–61 season United retained their top division place. Other players to flourish like defensive giant Yeats were the forward pair of Gillespie (whom Kerr had brought with him from Alloa Athletic) and Jim Irvine scoring 21 and 23 goals respectively. United finished a creditable ninth.
Kerr was imaginative and inspired with some of his signings. With Hal Stewart of Morton, he was the first to see the possibility of tapping
Scandinavia
Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...
for cultured players at an affordable price. And by 1964,
Lennart Wing
Lennart Wing (born 7 August 1935) is a Swedish former footballer and manager who played as a wing half. He began his senior career with Örgryte IS before moving to play professionally in Scotland, joining Dundee United in 1965. He returned to � ...
,
Finn Døssing
Finn Døssing Jensen (27 April 1941 – 24 June 2022) was a Danish footballer who played as a centre forward. He began his career with Viborg FF and represented the Denmark under-21 team before joining Dundee United in 1964. He scored 76 go ...
Örjan Persson
Per Örjan Persson (27 August 1942) is a Swedish former football player. He played for Scottish clubs Dundee United and Rangers in the 1960s. He also represented Sweden at the 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico and the European Championship qualif ...
were Tannadice stalwarts.
Kerr is also credited with another landmark moment in the club's history, as he led United into their first ever European tie in 1966. This produced a 4–1 aggregate victory over
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional Football team, football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish footb ...
in the Fairs Cup that included a 2–1 win at the Nou Camp.
In November 1971 (then aged 59) he assumed the post of general manager. Jim McLean took over as manager of football matters to build upon Kerr's successful base over the following seasons. Kerr then left the club, with the minimum of publicity, at the end of season 1972–73. Kerr is remembered for taking United from third from the bottom in Scottish League Football to a secure place in the top division.
More than thirty years later the Club recognised the huge contribution Jerry had made when they renamed the south stand the Jerry Kerr Stand.
Forfar Athletic
Kerr later managed Forfar Athletic from 1974 to 1976 before retiring from football completely.
Forfarshire Cup
The Forfarshire Cup is a football competition in Scotland competed for by teams in the Forfarshire Football Association from Angus, Dundee and Perth. The name of the competition is often baffling to some, as "Forfarshire" is an archaic and angli ...