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 ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring 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 intercepting o ...

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 Fo ...

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at the County Ground sin ...

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

and

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

. Kerr was forced into early retirement at the age of 27 due to a back injury. Kerr was appointed to

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 ...

club Airdrie United as goalkeeper coach in August 2008, where he was part of the

Scottish Challenge Cup The Scottish Professional Football League Challenge Cup,Lee Hollis Lee James Hollis (born 27 March 1986 in Lanark, Scotland) is a Scottish footballer who plays as a goalkeeper, and is known to have most recently play for Scottish Amateur side Benburb now goalie coach of lowland league side Cumbernauld Colts. ...

who went on to play for

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 ...

and Heart of Midlothian. Kerr left that position to join

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

in September 2009, where he was credited with developing current

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

and

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 ...

goalkeeper

John Ruddy John Thomas Gordon Ruddy (born 24 October 1986) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Birmingham City. Ruddy began his career at Cambridge United, before signing for Everton as a 19-year-old. He spent five ...

, as well as West Ham and

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

goalkeeper

Darren Randolph Darren Edward Andrew Randolph (born 12 May 1987) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Premier League club AFC Bournemouth and the Republic of Ireland national team. He has previously played for the Republic of Ir ...

. Kerr left Motherwell in December 2011 to become goalkeeper coach for

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 States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

side

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BMO ...

. During his time at Toronto, Kerr was responsible for recruiting and developing current Orlando City Number 1

Joe Bendik Joseph T. Bendik (born April 25, 1989) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for the Philadelphia Union of Major League Soccer. Club career Clemson Bendik grew up in Marietta, Georgia and attended Clemson Un ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

international goalkeeper

Quillan Roberts Quillan Roberts (born 13 September 1994) is a professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Electric City FC in League1 Ontario. Born in Canada, he currently represents the Guyana national team after having previously represented Canad ...

. 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 men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

in Brazil, which resulted in Cesar telling the world's press that Kerr was 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 as first-team goalkeeper coach for

MLS 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 States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

side Orlando City. He worked again with Joe Bendik, who then had an outstanding season. Bendik won the MLS "Save of the Week" a record 11 times, with Kerr receiving huge credit for repairing Bendik's confidence. On 8 December 2016 Kerr was promoted to the position of Director of Goalkeeping along with his position as First Team Goalkeeping Coach at Orlando City. One week later MLS side Vancouver Whitecaps asked for permission from Orlando City to speak to Kerr regarding the position of Head of Goalkeeping and First team Goalkeeper Coach after talks with Vancouver Kerr was appointed to the position on 5 January. Kerr enjoyed great success reaching the Western Conference semi final and the Concacaf Champions League Semi Final in 2017. Kerr left Vancouver in 2018 when Carl Robinson was controversially sacked. Kerr was then reunited with Adrian Heath in 2019 with MLS Club Minnesota United and was appointed Head Of Goalkeeping/ First team Goalkeeping Coach and the club subsequently achieved its First Play off appearance.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kerr, Stewart 1974 births Living people People educated at Coltness High School Footballers from Bellshill Association football goalkeepers Scottish footballers Celtic F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Motherwell F.C. non-playing staff Scottish Football League players Scottish Premier League players English Football League players Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Canada Scotland under-21 international footballers Toronto FC non-playing staff Orlando City SC non-playing staff Vancouver Whitecaps FC non-playing staff