Jerry Kerr
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Jasper Jerald Kerr | ||
| Date of birth | 1 June 1912 | ||
| Place of birth | Armadale, Scotland | ||
| Date of death | 8 November 2002 (aged 90) | ||
| Place of death | Dundee, Scotland | ||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Playing position | Left back | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| Armadale | |||
| Motherwell | |||
| –1937 | Alloa | ||
| 1937–1939 | St Bernard's | ||
| 1939–1947 | Dundee United | ||
| – | Rangers | ||
| – | Berwick Rangers | ||
| Teams managed | |||
| Peebles Rovers | |||
| 1953–54 | Berwick Rangers | ||
| 1955–59 | Alloa | ||
| 1959–71 | Dundee United F.C. | ||
| 1967 | → Dallas Tornado (USA) | ||
| 1974–76 | Forfar Athletic | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. | |||
Jasper Jerald '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 relative obscurity to being mainstays in what is now the Scottish Premier League.
A native of West Lothian, Kerr was a full-back in a playing career which began at Armadale and took him to Motherwell and Alloa Athletic before joining St Bernard's in 1937. He captained the Edinburgh side to the Scottish Cup semi-finals in his first season at the Gymnasium, where they eventually lost to fellow Second Division side East Fife in a second replay. 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). He was, however, unlucky to sustain a shoulder injury in the semi-final which kept him out of the final against Rangers, at Hampden. Kerr briefly played for Rangers after the war before moving towards a coaching career.
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 before being 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 after Kerr had sold White to Falkirk, Tottenham Hotspur spent £20,000 to lure him to North London, an indication of the talent Kerr had for finding good young players.
...
Wikipedia