James Stewart Robert Kerr (born 13 November 1974) is a Scottish former professional
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 as a
goalkeeper
In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...
for
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
*Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Foot ...
,
Swindon Town
Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system.
Founded as Swindon A ...
,
Brighton
Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...
and
Wigan Athletic
Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system.
Founded in 1932, they have p ...
. Kerr was forced into early retirement at the age of 27 due to a back injury.
Kerr was appointed as goalkeeper coach at
Scottish First Division
The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. It was replaced by the Scottish Championship.
History
The First Division was introduced in 1975–76 in Scottish footb ...
club
Airdrie United
Airdrieonians Football Club is a Scottish professional football team in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, who are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in the . They were formed in 2002 as Airdrie United Football Clu ...
in August 2008. During his time there, he was part of the
Scottish Challenge Cup
The Scottish Professional Football League Challenge Cup,Lee Hollis who went on to play for
Motherwell
Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...
Scottish Premier League
The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...
side
Motherwell
Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...
in September 2009, where he was credited with developing former
Norwich City
Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...
and
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
goalkeeper
John Ruddy
John Thomas Gordon Ruddy (born 24 October 1986) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper. He is currently a free agent.
Ruddy began his career at Cambridge United, before signing for Everton as a 19-year-old. He spent f ...
, as well as West Ham and
Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...
goalkeeper
Darren Randolph
Darren Edward Andrew Randolph (born 12 May 1987) is an Irish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. He is currently a free agent. Randolph also represented Republic of Ireland ...
.
Kerr left Motherwell in December 2011 to become the goalkeeper coach for
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...
side
Toronto FC
Toronto Football Club is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matc ...
. During his time at Toronto, Kerr was responsible for recruiting and developing current
Philadelphia Union
The Philadelphia Union are an American professional soccer club based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Founded on February 28, 2008, the Union began ...
Number 1
Joe Bendik
Joseph T. Bendik (born April 25, 1989) is an American retired professional soccer player who played as a goalkeeper. He is currently the assistant goalkeeping coach for Major League Soccer club Chicago Fire.
Club career Clemson
Bendik gre ...
and
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
international goalkeeper
Quillan Roberts
Quillan Eon Myles Roberts (born 13 September 1994) is a professional association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for Western Suburbs FC, Western Suburbs in the New Zealand Central League (New Zea ...
. Kerr also coached and prepared legendary Brazilian goalkeeper Julio Cesar in Toronto for the
2014 FIFA World Cup
The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...
in Brazil, which led to Cesar praising Kerr as the best goalkeeper coach he has ever worked with. On 31 August 2014, Kerr left his position as Goalkeeper Coach of Toronto FC after
Ryan Nelsen
Ryan William Nelsen (born 18 October 1977) is a former New Zealand professional football player and former head coach of Major League Soccer side Toronto FC.
Nelsen commonly played as a defender, and his professional career began in 1995. He ...
was fired as head coach. On 13 November 2014, Kerr was appointed as a Soccer Consultant to Toronto FC's parent company,
Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment
Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd. (MLSE) is a professional sports and commercial real estate company based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. With assets that include franchises in four of the six major professional sports leagues in the United S ...
.
On 24 December 2015, Kerr was named first-team goalkeeper coach for
MLS
Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanctioned by the United ...
side Orlando City. He worked again with Joe Bendik, who had an outstanding season, winning the MLS "Save of the Week" a record 11 times. Kerr received significant credit for restoring Bendik's confidence. On 8 December 2016, Kerr was promoted to Director of Goalkeeping, in addition to his role as first-team goalkeeper coach at Orlando City. One week later, MLS side Vancouver Whitecaps sought permission from Orlando City to speak to Kerr regarding the position of Head of Goalkeeping and First team Goalkeeper Coach. After discussions with Vancouver, Kerr was appointed to the position on 5 January, 2017. He enjoyed considerable success, leading the team to the Western Conference semi final and the Concacaf Champions League semi-final in 2017.
Kerr left Vancouver in 2018 following the controversial sacking of Carl Robinson. He was reunited with Adrian Heath in 2019 at MLS Club Minnesota United, where he was appointed Head Of Goalkeeping/ First team Goalkeeping Coach. The club subsequently achieved its first play off appearance.