Fraser Kerr (born 17 January 1993) is 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 le ...

who plays as a centre back for club AFC Telford United. Kerr has represented his country at levels from under-16 to under-21. Kerr began his professional career at

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

side

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

in 2011, having progressed through the club's youth ranks. He never made an appearance for the club, and spent the 2012–13 season on loan to

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...

side

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 Lanarks ...

, where he made 19 appearances. He was released by Birmingham City in July 2013, having returned from his loan spell. Kerr then moved to Motherwell on a permanent basis, making 40 league appearances in two seasons. He spent a season with Cowdenbeath before moving to

Stenhousemuir Stenhousemuir (; gd, Featha Thaigh nan Clach) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies within the Falkirk (council area), Falkirk council area of Scotland. The town is north-northwest of Falkirk and directly adjoins to Larbert in ...

in June 2016. The following year, he returned to England, where he played

non-league football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

for

Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded in 1908 as Hartle ...

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

and York City. In July 2023 Kerr signed for club AFC Telford United.

Club career

Birmingham City

Kerr was born in Rutherglen,

South Lanarkshire gd, Siorrachd Lannraig a Deas , image_skyline = , image_flag = , image_shield = Arms_slanarkshire.jpg , image_blank_emblem = Slanarks.jpg , blank_emblem_type = Council logo , image_map ...

, and attended

Calderglen High School Calderglen High School (Scottish Gaelic: ''Àrd-sgoil Ghlinn Challdair'') is a state-run secondary school in the St Leonards area of the Scottish new town East Kilbride, in South Lanarkshire. The complex of buildings is situated on the prec ...

, in

East Kilbride East Kilbride (; gd, Cille Bhrìghde an Ear ) is the largest town in South Lanarkshire in Scotland and the country's sixth-largest locality by population. It was also designated Scotland's first new town on 6 May 1947. The area lies on a rais ...

. He began his football career as a schoolboy with

. Spotted playing for the Scotland under-16 team in the televised Victory Shield, he moved to England at the age of 16 to begin a two-year scholarship in

's youth academy. Much to his surprise, Kerr was included as defensive cover in the first-team squad for a 2010 pre-season tour to Hong Kong and China. He played in only one of the games, as a 76th-minute substitute for

Stephen Carr Stephen Carr (born 29 August 1976) is an Irish former professional footballer who played for and captained Birmingham City from 2009 to 2013. He previously played for Premier League teams Tottenham Hotspur and, for a shorter spell, Newcastle U ...

in the 2–0 win against

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Association Super League, commonly known as Chinese Super League or CSL, currently known as the China Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest tier of professional football in ...

team

Liaoning Whowin Liaoning Football Club (), officially known as Liaoning Hongyun (), was a professional association football club with a long history in Chinese football. The club can predate their formation to 1953, when Shenyang government sports body joined ex ...

. He signed his first professional contract, of two-and-a-half years, in January 2011. Academy manager

Terry Westley Terry Westley (born 18 September 1959) is an association football coach and manager. Until 2011 he was the Academy Director at Birmingham City and in July 2014 he was appointed to a similar role with West Ham United. He has had brief spells as ...

described the "tall and gangly" Kerr as having "good awareness on the ball", but said that it was "his change of pace that really convinced us to bring him here", comparing him with

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

international

Matthew Upson Matthew James Upson (born 18 April 1979) is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre back. Upson played for England at full international level including at the 2010 World Cup. Upson started his career with Bedfordshire ...

at a similar age. His first competitive involvement with the first team came in January 2011, when named on the substitutes' bench for the fourth-round

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

tie against

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

. He was part of the Birmingham squad for their 2011 pre-season visit to Ireland, and played the second half of the friendly against Cork City. Named in the "B" list for Birmingham's 2011–12 Europa League campaign, he was an unused substitute for the play-off round second leg against

CD Nacional Clube Desportivo Nacional, commonly known as Nacional and sometimes Nacional da Madeira (), is a Portuguese football club based in Funchal, on the island of Madeira. Founded on 8 December 1910, it currently plays in the Liga Portugal 2, Portug ...

. In August 2012, Kerr rejoined

on a six-month loan after a successful trial. He made his debut as a substitute in a 2–1 win over

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

in the

on 18 August. The loan was later extended to last for the season. In April, Birmingham confirmed that his contract would not be renewed when it expired at the end of the season.

Motherwell

On 1 July 2013, after his Birmingham contract expired, Kerr signed a two-year permanent deal with Motherwell. On 31 May 2015, Kerr was involved in an incident in Fir Park following Motherwell's 3–0, 6–1 on aggregate, victory 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 ...

that secured their place in the

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish ...

. After a clash between players Bilel Mohsni (Rangers) and Lee Erwin (Motherwell), Kerr got involved to defend teammate Erwin. Both teams' managers described the event as both "unacceptable" and "disgraceful". Kerr was released by Motherwell at the end of the 2014–15 season.

Cowdenbeath and Stenhousemuir

Kerr signed for Cowdenbeath in November 2015, where he spent one season before signing for

Scottish League One The Scottish League One, known as cinch League One for sponsorship reasons, is the third tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish League One was e ...

side

in June 2016. At the end of the 2016–17 season Kerr was released following the club's relegation to

Scottish League Two The Scottish League Two, known as cinch League Two for sponsorship reasons, is the fourth tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish League Two was ...

Non-League football

Kerr returned to English football in July 2017, signing a one-year contract with

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

club

. On 27 February 2019, Kerr signed for

for an undisclosed fee. He was released at the end of the 2019–20 season. Kerr joined

on a free transfer in July 2020. He made seven National League appearances, all in December, before moving closer to his family home by joining

on 2 March 2021 until the end of the season; Chesterfield's

Scott Boden Scott David Boden (born 19 December 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Matlock Town. Career Boden was born in Streatham. In 2008, Boden was loaned out from Sheffield United to play five matches for IFK ...

had moved on loan in the other direction. He made his debut that evening at right-sided centre-back, played the whole of a 1–0 win at home to

Eastleigh Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the 2011 census. The town lies on the River Itchen, o ...

and, according to the '' Derbyshire Times'', "A couple of crunching tackles in the first half would have drawn applause had fans been at the

Technique Technique or techniques may refer to: Music * The Techniques, a Jamaican rocksteady vocal group of the 1960s *Technique (band), a British female synth pop band in the 1990s * ''Technique'' (album), by New Order, 1989 * ''Techniques'' (album), by M ...

. He was strong in the air and played the ball out from the back." Kerr was released at the end of the 2021–22 season, and signed for York City, newly promoted to the National League. He was released by York after one season, and joined AFC Telford United in July 2023.

International career

Kerr made his debut for the Scotland under-16 team in August 2008 in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against a

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...

team, and played twice in that year's Victory Shield. The following year he made six appearances for Scotland's under-17s, including two in the qualifying round of the 2010 European under-17 championships, and scored his first international goal, against

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

in the Nordic Tournament. As a 17-year-old, Kerr played two friendlies for Scotland at under-19 level in 2010, and appeared in five more matches in 2011, which included three European under-19 championships qualifiers. Kerr made his under-21 debut in the Marbella Cup in October 2012.

Career statistics

References

External links

Profile
at Birmingham City F.C. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kerr, Fraser 1993 births Living people Footballers from East Kilbride Footballers from Rutherglen People educated at Calderglen High School Scottish men's footballers Men's association football defenders Scotland men's youth international footballers Scotland men's under-21 international footballers Birmingham City F.C. players Motherwell F.C. players Cowdenbeath F.C. players Stenhousemuir F.C. players Gateshead F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players Chesterfield F.C. players York City F.C. players AFC Telford United players Scottish Premier League players Scottish Professional Football League players National League (English football) players People educated at Claremont High School (East Kilbride)