John Kerr Sr. (15 October 1943 – 19 June 2011) was a professional soccer player who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. Born in Scotland, he played for the Canada men's national team.

Club career

Kerr began his professional career with

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

in Scotland. When his mother moved to Canada, Kerr followed and emigrated to the

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

area before signing with the Hamilton Steelers/Primos in the

Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League The Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League was a soccer league in Canada. The league operated for six seasons from 1961 to 1966 across four cities in two Canadian provinces and one American state. In the 1960s, the Eastern Canada Professional ...

and later in the

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its ...

(NSL). He also played with

Hamilton Croatia Hamilton Croatia is a Croatian Canadian amateur soccer team founded in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada in 1957. It is supported by the Croatian Sports and Community Centre of Hamilton Inc. (formerly the Croatian National Sports Club of Hamilton, Inc. ...

in the NSL. In 1968, he played in the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...

with the Detroit Cougars. In 1969, he joined the

Washington Darts The Washington Darts were an American soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that played in the American Soccer League (1933-1983), American Soccer League from 1967 to 1969 and the North American Soccer League (1968-1984), North American Soccer ...

of the second division American Soccer League where he was a First Team All Star. The Darts moved up to the NASL in 1970 and Kerr remained with the team through the 1971 season. He was the league's 14th leading scorer with Washington in 1971 with 18 points in 24 games. He scored Washington only goal of the NASL's first-ever indoor tournament in 1971. He also played for New York Hota of the

German American Soccer League The Cosmopolitan Soccer League is a regional soccer league consisting of semi-pro and amateur teams based in and around New York City. Established in 1923, it is one of the oldest soccer leagues in the United States and has contributed greatl ...

when it won the 1971

National Challenge Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States. It is the country's oldest ongoing national soccer competition. The competition was first held duri ...

. He also played for

Club América Club de Fútbol América S.A. de C.V., commonly known as Club América, is a professional association football, football club based in Mexico City. Nicknamed ''Las Águilas'' (The Eagles), it competes in Liga MX, the top tier of Mexican football ...

of Mexico in the early 1970s. In 1972, Kerr became a member of the

New York Cosmos New York Cosmos may refer to * New York Cosmos (1970–1985), a team in the North American Soccer League (then the top-tier soccer league in the United States and Canada) * New York Cosmos (2010), a team playing since 2020 in the National Indepen ...

. In 1972, he was again the league's 14th top scorer with 10 points in 14 games with the Cosmos and was named league First Team All-Star at midfield. He then played the 1976 and 1977 seasons with the

Washington Diplomats The Washington Diplomats were an American soccer club representing Washington, D.C. Throughout their playing existence, the club played their home games at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium and indoor home matches at the neighboring D.C. A ...

, serving during the 1977 season as an assistant coach. However, on 17 July 1977, the Dips informed Kerr that the team planned to release him.

International career

Kerr played ten times for Canada, four times in World Cup qualifying in 1968, five times in W.C. qualifying in 1976 and once in a 1977 friendly. Canada failed to qualify for either World Cup.

Coaching

Kerr coached the

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

freshman soccer team in 1970 and then coached the

American Eagles men's soccer American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

team in 1971. Kerr took the amateur Fairfax Spartans to the 1986

National Amateur Cup The National Amateur Cup, also known as the USASA Amateur Cup, is an American knockout soccer competition open to all amateur teams affiliated with the United States Soccer Federation through United States Adult Soccer Association The Unite ...

. In 1987, the Spartans became known as F.C. Washington and later the Washington Stars as it entered the American Soccer League. Kerr was hired as head coach of the Stars on 24 June 1987. He coached the Stars until the team folded following the

1990 American Professional Soccer League Overview of the 1990 American Professional Soccer League season. Although the Western Soccer League and the American Soccer League merged to form the American Professional Soccer League in 1990, the two leagues remained essentially independent ...

season. Kerr was head coach of the

Richmond Kickers Richmond Kickers is an American professional soccer club based in Richmond, Virginia. The Kickers compete as a member of USL League One (USL1). The club was established in 1993, and began play that same year as a United States Interregional S ...

in 1993–94. He was the

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

's Players Association executive director during the late 1990s. Kerr coached the varsity boys' team at Hilton Head High School in

Hilton Head Island, South Carolina Hilton Head Island, often referred to as simply Hilton Head, is a South Carolina Lowcountry, Lowcountry resort town and barrier island in Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. It is northeast of Savannah, Georgia (as the crow flies), a ...

in the mid-2000s. At the time of his death, Kerr was coaching for Triangle Futbol Club in

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...

Personal life

In 2008, Kerr was inducted into the Virginia-DC Soccer Hall of Fame. In 2015 Kerr was inducted as a builder into the

Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame The Canada Soccer Hall of Fame honours people and institutions for their contributions to Canadian soccer. It was founded in 1997 by the Ontario Soccer Association and was originally located in Vaughan, Ontario. As of 2024, the Canada Soccer Ha ...

. Kerr's son John Kerr Jr. is a former American international.

References

External links

*
NASL stats
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kerr, John 01 1943 births 2011 deaths Canadian men's soccer players Canadian expatriate men's soccer players Canada men's international soccer players Canadian National Soccer League players Canadian soccer coaches Canada Soccer Hall of Fame inductees American Professional Soccer League coaches American Soccer League (1988–89) coaches American Soccer League (1933–1983) players Men's association football midfielders Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Club América footballers Detroit Cougars (soccer) players Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League players Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Cosmopolitan Soccer League players Hamilton Croatia players Hamilton Steelers (1958–1967) players Naturalized citizens of Canada Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Liga MX players New York Cosmos (1970–1985) players New York Hota Bavarian SC players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players Footballers from Glasgow Soccer players from Toronto Scottish emigrants to Canada Scottish men's footballers USISL coaches Washington Darts players Washington Diplomats (NASL) players Richmond Kickers coaches American Eagles men's soccer coaches 20th-century Canadian sportsmen 20th-century Scottish sportsmen