Mark Kerr (born 2 March 1982) is a Scottish 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'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player and coach. Kerr started his career with

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large 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 ...

in 1998, and later played for

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...

(appearing in two major finals with the club) and

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

before joining

Asteras Tripolis Asteras Tripolis Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ Αστέρας Τρίπολης), commonly referred to as Asteras Tripolis (meaning "Star of Tripoli"), is a Greek professional football club based in the city of Tripoli in Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greec ...

in Greece. On Returning to Scotland, Kerr played for

Dunfermline Athletic Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently play in Scottish League One after being relegated from the 2021–22 Scottish Championship. Dunfermline ...

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland. Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908. ...

and Queen of the South before rejoining Falkirk in 2015. He made one appearance for the Scotland B team in 2005. In October 2019, Kerr was appointed

player/manager A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

of Ayr United. He left this position on 28 February 2021 by mutual consent.

Club career

Falkirk

Raised in

Coatbridge Coatbridge ( sco, Cotbrig or Coatbrig, gd, Drochaid a' Chòta) is a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, about east of Glasgow city centre, set in the central Lowlands. Along with neighbouring town Airdrie, Coatbridge forms the area known as ...

, Kerr joined

from Moodiesburn Boys Club as a sixteen-year-old, and progressed through the Youth Development scheme at

Brockville Brockville, formerly Elizabethtown, is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada, in the Thousand Islands region. Although it is the seat of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, it is politically Independent city, independent of the county. It i ...

, so was well known to then-manager Ian McCall and his management team. Kerr made his Falkirk debut towards the end of the 1998–99 season at the age of 17 against

Clydebank Clydebank ( gd, Bruach Chluaidh) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, Bowling and Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Mil ...

. The following season, he turned out seven times and scored his first goal in a 3–3 draw at

Ayr United Ayr United Football Club are a football club in Ayr, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League. Formed in 1910 by the merger of Ayr Parkhouse and Ayr F.C., their nickname is ...

. For the next three seasons, he hardly missed a game for Falkirk and by the time he left, he had accumulated 125 appearances and scored nine times. He was named as the second tier's Young Player of the Year for the 2000–01 season.

Dundee United

In July 2003, he moved to Dundee United on a

Bosman transfer ''Union Royale Belge des Sociétés de Football Association ASBL v Jean-Marc Bosman'' (1995) C-415/93 (known as the Bosman ruling) is a 1995 European Court of Justice decision concerning freedom of movement for workers, freedom of association ...

. Their manager Ian McCall had been keeping tabs on the Scotland Under-21 player since he himself left Falkirk. Kerr soon settled at

Tannadice Tannadice Park ( gd, Pàirc Thanachais), usually referred to as Tannadice, is a football stadium in Dundee, Scotland. It is the home ground of Dundee United F.C., who have played at Tannadice since the club was founded as Dundee Hibernian in 1 ...

and became a regular in the side, and by the end of his first season, he had racked up 33 League and two cup appearances. His tenacity in midfield was a feature of the latter part of the campaign in which United finished strongly to take fifth place. Commencing the season 2004–05 in the starting eleven, Kerr suffered a dip in form and only appeared another four times before making his way back into the first team at the turn of the year. He went on to miss only one more match throughout the rest of the season, and became a vital part of the midfield as

Gordon Chisholm Gordon William Chisholm (born 8 April 1960 in Glasgow) is a Scottish professional football former player and manager. Chisholm played as a central defender for Sunderland, Hibernian, Dundee and Partick Thistle. After retiring as a player, Chis ...

became manager. His two goals in that term came in the Cup competitions, one in the 3–0

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

win over

Stranraer Stranraer ( , in Scotland also ; gd, An t-Sròn Reamhar ), also known as The Toon, is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is located in the historical parish of Inch in the historic county of Wigtownshire. It lies on the shores of L ...

at Tannadice and the other in the thrilling 4–3

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Gretna; he played the entirety of

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

, a 1–0 loss to

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 Fo ...

. Kerr played in the majority of matches in every season, but in the 2008 Scottish League Cup Final, with his team 1–0 ahead in the closing minutes of normal time, he was responsible for a careless backpass pounced upon by

Kris Boyd Kris Boyd (born 18 August 1983) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a forward. Boyd grew up in the South Ayrshire village of Tarbolton and started his senior career with Kilmarnock. He transferred to Rangers in January ...

who equalised for Rangers; the game moved into extra time and a penalty shoot-out, which United lost. Kerr chose to leave when his contract expired at the end of June 2008.

Aberdeen

In July 2008, it was reported that Kerr was on the verge of a move to Dundee United's New Firm rivals

, and he subsequently moved to

Pittodrie Pittodrie Stadium, commonly referred to as Pittodrie, is an all-seater stadium in Aberdeen, Scotland. Used primarily for Association football, football, it has been the home ground of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) club Aberdeen ...

on a Bosman transfer, taking over the number 8 shirt vacated by

Barry Nicholson Barry Nicholson (born 24 August 1978) is a Scottish former professional footballer, who played as a midfielder. He is currently in charge of Fleetwood Town's development squad and also served as caretaker manager of the first team squad. He star ...

. Kerr was made Aberdeen club captain from the start of season 2009–10. He scored once for the club, his goal coming in a 2–1 loss at home to

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. ...

on 5 May 2010.

Greece and return to Scotland

Kerr agreed to join Greek side

; the move was announced on 6 June 2010. Asteras finished 13th in the

2010–11 Superleague Greece 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

. Kerr played his final match for the club in September 2011. In January 2012, Kerr signed for

until the end of the 2011–12 Scottish Premier League season. He made his debut for the club in a 1–1 draw against

on 7 February 2012. However, Dunfermline were relegated at the end of the season and Kerr left the club despite manager being offered a new contract by Jim Jefferies

Dundee

After trial spells with Hibernian and

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Par ...

, Kerr signed for

, Dundee United's city rival. Previously, he was on the verge of joining

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland which is a member of the Scottish Premiership for the 2022–23 season. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun ''aka'' Saint Johnstoun – an old ...

, after the club signed Steve MacLean, the duo having played together during their time at Aberdeen in 2010 while MacLean was on loan. However, the move collapsed despite Kerr having a medical; he was 'frustrated' with the inability to complete the deal, and after joining Dundee, said he didn't know why his move to St Johnstone collapsed. On 15 September 2012, Kerr made his debut, playing in defensive midfield, in a 2–1 loss against

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 ...

Partick Thistle

Kerr began summer 2013 pre-season training with

. On 13 July 2013, he scored a goal from 35 yards in a pre-season friendly against Dumbarton at the Bet Butler Stadium in a 4–3 win. He signed a short-term deal but was released on 30 January 2014.

Queen of the South

Kerr signed for Queen of the South on 7 February 2014, having been released by Partick Thistle. On 30 December 2014, he left the

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; sco, Dumfries; from gd, Dùn Phris ) is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is located near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth about by road from the ...

club by mutual consent.

Falkirk (second spell)

Kerr signed for

for a second spell on 3 January 2015. Although agreeing a new one-year contract in May 2017, he was released by the club in January 2018 after the side's poor results in the first half of the 2017–18 season. One of his teammates during his return spell was

Lee Miller Elizabeth "Lee" Miller, Lady Penrose (April 23, 1907 – July 21, 1977), was an American photographer and photojournalist. She was a fashion model in New York City in the 1920s before going to Paris, where she became a fashion and fine art ...

, with whom he had also played in his early years with the club (2000–03), as well as at Dundee United (2005–06) and Aberdeen (2008–10).

Ayr United

Shortly after leaving Falkirk, Kerr signed 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 ...

club

linking up with former manager Ian McCall for the third time. At the end of the season Kerr celebrated promotion with Ayr as league champions. Shortly afterwards, he signed a new contract for another season. Kerr was appointed

of Ayr in October 2019. After a run of one league win in ten games and with Ayr sitting second-bottom of the Championship, Kerr left Ayr by mutual consent on 28 February 2021.

International career

Having played once for the Under-21s in 2001 against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

, Kerr made an appearance for the Scotland B team in December 2005, coming on as a substitute in the ''Future Cup'' competition, coincidentally also against

. Lee Miller again played alongside him for the B side.

Championship Manager

Kerr's name became known around the world to fans of the

Championship Manager ''Championship Manager'' is a series of association football, football-management simulation video games, the first of which was released in 1992. The ''Championship Manager'' brand and game was conceived by brothers Collyer brothers (game desig ...

football video game series in the early 2000s, after some of its versions (produced around the time of his breakthrough at Falkirk) programmed his 'potential abilities' generously, whereby he would develop into one of the world's top players. In an interview for a book based around the series, Kerr stated that he rarely played the games but had been approached on several occasions by people wishing to share stories of how 'he' helped their team to glory; in the real world, his integration into the unfamiliar environment of Greek football was made easier by his elevated profile in the virtual universe, as some of his new teammates recognised his name from the game.

Career statistics

Player

Managerial record

Honours

Falkirk *

Scottish First Division The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. History The First Division was introduced in 1975–76 to replace the old Scottish Football League Division Two, as t ...

: 2002–03 Dundee United *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,2004–05 *

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...

: Runner-up 2007–08 Ayr United *

: 2017–18

References

External links

*
Dundee United FC profileProfile
at ''AFC Heritage Trust'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Kerr, Mark 1982 births Living people Footballers from Coatbridge Scottish footballers Association football midfielders Scottish Premier League players Scottish Football League players Super League Greece players Scottish Professional Football League players Falkirk F.C. players Dundee United F.C. players Aberdeen F.C. players Asteras Tripolis F.C. players Dunfermline Athletic F.C. players Dundee F.C. players Partick Thistle F.C. players Queen of the South F.C. players Ayr United F.C. players Scotland under-21 international footballers Scotland B international footballers Scottish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Greece Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Greece Scottish football managers Ayr United F.C. managers Scottish Professional Football League managers