Keryn David Jordan (1 November 1975 – 21 October 2013) was a South African

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who primarily played as a striker during a fifteen-year career.

Club career

Early career

He started his career in his native

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

at Pretoria City, before transferring to Manning Rangers where he won the golden boot during the 1997–98 Premier Soccer League season with 11 goals. In the 2003/2004 season, he also led with 8 goals.

Waitakere United

Jordan then moved to

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, intending to play for the

New Zealand Knights New Zealand Knights Football Club (formed from the Football Kingz Football Club in 2004) were the only professional association football club in New Zealand before they became defunct. Based in Auckland, New Zealand, they played in the A-League ...

in the newly formed

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n and

A-League A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

. He was unsuccessful in this and signed with new

New Zealand Football Championship The New Zealand Football Championship () was a men's association football league at the top of the New Zealand league system. Founded in 2004, the New Zealand Football Championship was the successor to a myriad of short-lived football leagues in ...

team

Waitakere United Waitakere United was a football club based in Waitakere City, New Zealand. They were one of the franchises in the ISPS Handa Premiership. They played their home games at Fred Taylor Park in Kumeū and The Trusts Arena. History Waitakere Uni ...

instead. In his first season with the club (2004/2005), he scored 15 goals in the 21 rounds, and earned the Golden Boot.

International career

Jordan earned one cap for

at senior international level, in 1999.

Illness and death

In 2008, after an unexplained three months on the sideline, Jordan announced that he had been suffering from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

for three years. He had initially been worried that it would interfere with his application for permanent residency and New Zealand citizenship, but was treated and given the all-clear by doctors, and made his comeback in a 4–1 win against

Canterbury United Canterbury United Dragons was a semi-professional Association football, football club from Christchurch, New Zealand. The team plays most of its matches at English Park in Christchurch, though they occasionally play in Nelson, New Zealand, Nels ...

. On 19 March 2010, Jordan announced his retirement from all levels of domestic and international football, citing ongoing knee injuries. Jordan had not played a full game since the 2009 Club World Cup, and he felt it the right time to retire, after what he conceded was an ultimately successful career. Jordan died of cancer on 21 October 2013, aged 37, in his hometown of

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

. The cancer had started as a

melanoma Melanoma is the most dangerous type of skin cancer; it develops from the melanin-producing cells known as melanocytes. It typically occurs in the skin, but may rarely occur in the mouth, intestines, or eye (uveal melanoma). In very rare case ...

spot thirteen years earlier, and eventually spread to his brain.

References

External links

Auckland City FC profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jordan, Keryn 1975 births 2013 deaths Deaths from cancer in South Africa South African men's soccer players New Zealand men's association footballers South Africa men's international soccer players Expatriate men's association footballers in New Zealand South African people of British descent SuperSport United F.C. players Moroka Swallows F.C. players Waitakere United players Auckland City FC players Manning Rangers F.C. players Soccer players from Pretoria Men's association football forwards New Zealand Football Championship players