John Kerr Jr. (born March 6, 1965) is a Canadian-American retired soccer midfielder who played professionally in the United States, Canada, England, France and Northern Ireland during a much traveled and varied playing career. He is currently head coach of the

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

men's soccer team. Kerr was named the 1986

Hermann Award The Hermann Trophy is awarded annually by the Missouri Athletic Club to the United States's top men's and women's college soccer players. History In 1967, Bob Hermann, the president of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) and th ...

winner as the top collegiate player of the year. He also earned sixteen caps, scoring two goals, with the U.S. national team.

Player

Youth

Born in Canada, Kerr grew up in

Falls Church, Virginia Falls Church is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 14,658. Falls Church is included in the Wash ...

. The son of Scottish footballer John Kerr Sr., Kerr Jr. won the 1983 James P. McGuire Cup with Montgomery United and in 1986, while playing the collegiate off-season with his father's Fairfax Spartans, he won the National Amateur Cup. Kerr played collegiately at

. During his four years with the Blue Devils he was a two time first-team All-America. In 1986, he was the captain of the Duke team which won the NCAA national championship. He won the

as the NCAA Player of the Year as a senior. In 2004, Duke University inducted Kerr into its Sports Hall of Fame. Kerr is one of 22 college players to be part of the

40-40 club 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

, having both 40 goals and 40 assists in their college career.

Professional

In the spring of 1987, Kerr spent his last semester of college as an exchange student in England. While in England, he played with

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...

club

Harrow Borough Harrow Borough Football Club is an English football club based in Harrow, London. They were founded in 1933 and compete in the . Harrow Borough's home ground is Earlsmead Stadium, which has a capacity of 3,070. Harrow Borough moved into Earlsme ...

towards the end of 1986–1987 season reportedly attracting the attention of several English Football League professional clubs. In June 1987, the Tacoma Stars of the Major Indoor Soccer League selected Kerr in the second round of the MISL draft. He declined to sign with the Stars. In the summer of 1987, he returned to England and signed with Portsmouth (then newly promoted to the First Division) on the recommendation of Peter Osgood. Making his First Division debut for the club away at

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and th ...

in a 4–2 defeat on August 15, 1987. During the 1987–88 season, Kerr made a first team total of four league and two cup game appearances together with a 3-month loan spell at then Fourth Division club, Peterborough United. During one of those first team appearances for Portsmouth, Kerr was to make English Football League history when on September 19, 1987 while on the field of play as a replacement in a First Division away fixture at Watford, he became the first substitute to be likewise, substituted. The English Football League rule change that increased the number of player substitutions during a game from one to two per side having been introduced at the start of the previous 1986–87 season. Kerr made his final First Division appearance for Portsmouth as a substitute in a 4–1 away defeat to Luton Town on March 29, 1988. Following his release from Portsmouth, Kerr returned to the United States and signed with the

Washington Stars The Washington Stars were an American soccer team established in 1987 as F.C. Washington. The team entered the American Soccer League in 1988 under the name Washington Stars and merged with the Maryland Bays in 1990. History Founded in the sprin ...

of the American Soccer League (and coached at the time by his father,

John Kerr Sr John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

) in March 1988. He remained with the Stars for three seasons, the last in the

American Professional Soccer League The American Professional Soccer League (APSL) was a professional men's soccer league with teams from the United States and later Canada. It was formed in 1990 by the merger of the third American Soccer League with the Western Soccer League. It ...

. While playing for the Stars during the summer, Kerr returned to Europe with English club Wycombe Wanderers, then playing in the GM Vauxhall Conference League, for the 1988–89 season. Making a total of 48 appearances and scoring 22 times in league and cup games for the

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

club on its way to finishing in fourth position behind eventual Conference champions of that season,

Maidstone United Maidstone United Football Club is a professional football club based in Maidstone, Kent, England. The team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league system. The current club filled the void left by the ol ...

. Following his involvement with the U.S. squad as it prepared for the

1990 FIFA World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second time (the first being Me ...

, Kerr had spells during 1990–91 with French Third Division side Boulogne-Sur-Mer and Northern Ireland club Linfield. In 1991, he returned to Canada to play one season with the Hamilton Steelers of the

Canadian Soccer League The Canadian Soccer League (CSL; french: Ligue canadienne de soccer — LCS) is a semi-professional league for Canadian soccer clubs primarily located in the province of Ontario, and claims the history of the Canadian National Soccer League (C ...

. In October 1991, Kerr signed with the San Diego Sockers of the

Major Soccer League Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

. Kerr established himself as a regular on the team which went on to win the 1992 MSL championship. Following the collapse of the MSL during the summer of 1992, Kerr briefly spent time as an assistant coach with the Duke Blue Devils men's soccer team before returning to England, joining

club

Chertsey Town Chertsey Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Chertsey, Surrey, England. The club currently competes in the Isthmian League South Central Division. The home of Football The club was established as Chertsey Football ...

in the fall of 1992. He then moved to

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

club Millwall signing as a free agent on February 26, 1993 before temporary returning to the U.S. during the off-season summer break to continue his assistant coaching duties at Duke. Kerr went on to make a total of 40 first team appearances for Millwall in league and cup games during the 1993–94 and 1994–95 seasons, scoring 7 goals in the process. Towards the end of his time with Millwall, he also had a short on loan period with Walsall. In May 1995, Millwall gave Kerr a free transfer to the San Diego Sockers, however, he did not play for the Sockers. On February 8, 1996, the Dallas Burn selected Kerr in the ninth round (eighty-third overall) on the

1996 MLS Inaugural Player Draft The MLS Inaugural Player Draft, held before Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United State ...

. On June 27, 1996, Kerr was part of the first in-season trade in MLS history when the Burn dealt him to the New England Revolution for

Zak Ibsen Zak Ibsen (born June 2, 1972) is an American retired soccer player. Career Ibsen played college soccer at UCLA.Connecticut Wolves The Connecticut Wolves were an American soccer club that was founded by the Clifton Onolfo, the Onolfo Family, and several investors including Tony DiCicco. The Club's inaugural match was attended by 5,200 plus fans and competed in the United Socc ...

. In 1998, Kerr was appointed player-coach with the

Worcester Wildfire Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Englan ...

of the USL A-League, the following year the club was renamed the Boston Bulldogs after a change of ownership. In April 1999, Kerr returned on loan to the Revolution when several players on the team were ruled out because of injury. However, Kerr did not play during his loan period.

U.S. National Team

While at Duke, Kerr began his international career having become a naturalized U.S. citizen. He made his international debut in a scoreless draw versus Ecuador on 30 November 1984 in New York City. He soon became a regular player on the team and saw considerable playing time until 1988. From then until 1995, however, he failed to earn any more caps. As a result, he missed out on both the 1990 and 1994 World Cups. In 1995, he returned to the U.S. team and was included on the squad that surprisingly reached the semi-finals at the

1995 Copa América The 1995 Copa América football tournament was staged in Uruguay. It was won by Uruguay, who beat Brazil 5–3 in the penalty shootout after a 1–1 draw in the final. All 10 CONMEBOL members took part, with Mexico and the United States invited i ...

. He finished his national team career with 16 appearances and 2 goals.

Coaching

Kerr began coaching while in England and continued intermittently over the years until he finally retired from playing professionally in 1997. In 1992 and 1993, he returned to

serving briefly as an assistant coach under head coach John Rennie, who had coached Kerr during his college playing days as a Duke Blue Devil. In 1997, he was the

junior varsity Junior varsity (often called "JV") players are the members of a team who are not the main players in a competition (such as any football, basketball, or baseball game), usually at the high school level–– and formerly at the collegiate level� ...

and assistant varsity coach with

Wellesley High School Wellesley High School is a public high school in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States, educating students on grades 9 through 12. The principal is Jamie Chisum, who took the position in 2014 after the departure of Andrew Keough. As of 2022, ...

in Wellesley, Massachusetts. The following year of 1998, he became player-coach of the

in the USL A-League returning again in 1999 as player-coach for the renamed Boston Bulldogs. On July 14, 1999,

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

announced it had hired Kerr to coach its men's soccer team. However, Kerr did not move to that position until August 27, 1999 upon the completion of the A-League season. He coached the Harvard Crimson through to the 2007 fall season, finishing with an Ivy League Conference record of 81–57–13. On December 19, 2007 Kerr was named head coach of his alma mater, Duke University of the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

following the retirement of John Rennie. He also coaches Triangle United Gold in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Personal

Kerr has three children, twins Cameron and Alexandra and a younger son Drew.

References

External links

Duke profile

MLS player profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kerr, John 1965 births Living people All-American men's college soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in Northern Ireland American expatriate sportspeople in France American Professional Soccer League players American Soccer League (1988–89) players American soccer coaches American soccer players United States men's international soccer players American expatriate soccer players Canadian soccer players American people of Scottish descent Canadian people of Scottish descent Boston Bulldogs (soccer) players Canadian emigrants to the United States Canadian Soccer League (1987–1992) players Connecticut Wolves players Duke Blue Devils men's soccer coaches Duke Blue Devils men's soccer players Expatriate association footballers in Northern Ireland Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in France FC Dallas players Association football midfielders Hamilton Steelers (1981–1992) players Hermann Trophy men's winners Harvard Crimson men's soccer coaches NIFL Premiership players Linfield F.C. players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players Major League Soccer players Millwall F.C. players New England Revolution players Peterborough United F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players San Diego Sockers (original MISL) players Soccer players from Toronto English Football League players 1995 Copa América players USISL coaches USISL players USL First Division coaches USL First Division players Walsall F.C. players Washington Stars players Worcester Wildfire players Wycombe Wanderers F.C. players Canadian expatriate soccer players Canadian expatriate sportspeople in England American expatriate sportspeople in England Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Northern Ireland