Neil Kerr (13 April 1871 – 2 December 1901) was a Scottish

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 played mainly as an

outside right In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on bei ...

, for clubs including

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

and

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. He played for both clubs in their first seasons in the respective top divisions, featuring in every fixture for Rangers plus the championship play-off as they shared the

1890–91 Scottish Football League The 1890–91 Scottish Football League was the first season of the Scottish Football League. It began on 16 August 1890 and concluded on 21 May 1891. The league was won jointly by Dumbarton and Rangers who ended the season with an equal number o ...

title with

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; , or ; or , meaning 'fort of the Britons (historical), Britons') is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven, Dunbartonshire, River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. ...

. He also won the

Glasgow Cup The Glasgow Cup is a football tournament open to teams from Glasgow, Scotland. Operated by the Glasgow Football Association, it was competed for annually by senior Glasgow clubs from 1887 until 1989. It is now (since the 2019–20 amended rule ...

with the ''Light Blues'' in 1893. He later re-joined the

Govan Govan ( ; Cumbric: ''Gwovan''; Scots language, Scots: ''Gouan''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Ghobhainn'') is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of southwest Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the sout ...

club after spells with Liverpool,

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

and non-league

Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a 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 resident population of 32,422 at the ...

, but was only a reserve in his second spell and featured in just four competitive matches, albeit one of these was in the semi-final second replay of the

1897–98 Scottish Cup The 1897–98 Scottish Cup was the 25th season of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. The cup was won by holders Rangers when they beat first-time finalists Kilmarnock 2–0 in the final at the second Hampden Park for a t ...

, helping Rangers reach the final which they went on to win. At representative level, Kerr took part in a Scotland national team trial match in March 1892, and in November of that year was selected for the

Glasgow FA Founded in 1883, the Glasgow Football Association, based in the city of Glasgow, Scotland and affiliated to the national Scottish Football Association, is one of the List of Football Associations by date of foundation, oldest such bodies in footb ...

's annual challenge match against

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

. He was the sole survivor of a yachting accident on the

Firth of Clyde The Firth of Clyde, is the estuary of the River Clyde, on the west coast of Scotland. The Firth has some of the deepest coastal waters of the British Isles. The Firth is sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean by the Kintyre, Kintyre Peninsula. The ...

in 1896 in which two other men drowned, but died from

gastritis Gastritis is the inflammation of the lining of the stomach. It may occur as a short episode or may be of a long duration. There may be no symptoms but, when symptoms are present, the most common is upper abdominal pain (see dyspepsia). Othe ...

in 1901 at the age of 30.Neil Kerr Passes Away
The Evening Post, 31 December 1901, via Play Up Liverpool

References

1871 births Scottish men's footballers Footballers from West Dunbartonshire Liverpool F.C. players 1901 deaths Cowlairs F.C. players Dumbarton F.C. players Rangers F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Falkirk F.C. players Clyde F.C. players Men's association football outside forwards Scottish Football League players English Football League players Deaths from gastritis 19th-century Scottish sportsmen {{Scotland-footy-midfielder-1870s-stub