Bobby Kerr (footballer, born 1929)

Robert James Kerr (29 November 1929 – 13 May 2012) was a Scottish footballer who played as an inside forward or centre forward in the English Football League for Darlington and in the Scottish Football League for Third Lanark, Stirling Albion and Greenock Morton in the 1950s.

Bobby Kerr
Personal information
Full name Robert James Kerr[1]
Date of birth (1929-11-29)29 November 1929[1]
Place of birth Coatbridge, Scotland
Date of death 13 May 2012(2012-05-13) (aged 82)[1]
Place of death Edinburgh, Scotland
Position(s) Inside forward, centre forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
19??–1951 Pollok
1951–1952 Third Lanark 0 (0)
1952–1953 Darlington 10 (2)
1953–1955 Third Lanark 23 (18)
1955–1956 Stirling Albion 15 (3)
1956–1957 Greenock Morton 15 (12)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Life and career

Kerr was born in Coatbridge in 1929.[1] He played Junior football for Pollok before signing for "A" Division club Third Lanark.[2] He made no first-team appearances before his career was interrupted by National Service commitments with the RAF.[3] In the later part of 1952, he was stationed at RAF Middleton St George, in the north east of England, and Third Lanark allowed him to play for Darlington of the English Third Division North when available to do so.[4] He appeared for Darlington's reserves in the North-Eastern League,[4] as well as in Services football,[5] before making his senior debut in the Third Division on 20 December, replacing Ken Murray at inside left for a 3–0 defeat away to Southport. Later in the season, he had a run of games, also in place of Murray, and took his total to ten by the end of the season. He scored twice, at home to Accrington Stanley in March and Stockport County in April; on each occasion it was the only goal of the match.[6]

Kerr returned to Third Lanark for the 1953–54 season, by which time they had been relegated to the "B" Division. He made his first appearance on 16 January 1954 in a 3–0 win away to Dunfermline Athletic, replacing George Dobbie, who had been posted abroad,[7] and kept the place for the remaining 12 league matches, during which he scored 10 goals.[8][2] He was less of a regular in the 1954–55 season,[2] at the end of which he was transfer listed at a fee of £1000. Bradford City of the English Third Division were interested, and were reported to have held talks with the player,[9] but no move took place.

An appeal to the Scottish League's management committee to have his fee reduced was successful,[10] and he joined "A" Division club Stirling Albion. He appeared at outside right in the opening match of the season,[11] but went on to play in only 15 top-flight matches, scoring three goals.[12] He was released at the end of the season,[2] and spent 1956–57 with Morton in the second tier, in which he appeared equally infrequently but with a significantly better goal return, with twelve goals from his 15 outings.[12]

He was variously described as "well built",[4] "hefty",[13] and "big and strong", as well as being a scorer of spectacular goals.[14]

Kerr died in Edinburgh in 2012 at the age of 82.[1]

Club statistics
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup[lower-alpha 1] League Cup Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Darlington 1952–53[6] Third Division North10200—102
Third Lanark 1953–54[2] "B" Division131056001816
1954–55[2] "B" Division1082031159
Total 231876313325
Stirling Albion 1955–56[2] "A" Division1531153217
Morton 1956–57[2] Division Two151220512213
Career total 63351071358647
  1. Includes FA Cup, Scottish Cup

References
  1. "Bobby Kerr". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  2. A Record of Post-War Scottish League Players 1946/47 to 2017/18. 7. John Litster and Scottish Football Historian magazine. 2018.
  3. "Seniors star in R.A.F. Cup tie". The Courier and Advertiser. Dundee. 11 December 1952. p. 6.
  4. "Club jottings". Darlington F.C. Programme. 4 October 1952. p. 1.
  5. "Seniors star in R.A.F. Cup tie". The Courier and Advertiser. Dundee. 11 December 1952. p. 6.
  6. Tweddle, Frank (2000). The Definitive Darlington F.C. Nottingham: SoccerData. p. 49. ISBN 978-1-899468-15-7.
  7. "Dunfermline v. Third Lanark". The Courier and Advertiser. Dundee. 15 January 1954. p. 6.
  8. "Third Lanark: Season results: Results for season 1953/1954 in all competitions". Fitbastats. Bobby Sinnett and Thomas Jamieson. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  9. "City bidding in Scotland – forward in first deal". Bradford Observer. 13 May 1955. p. 7.
  10. "Alliance League again". The Courier and Advertiser. Dundee. 18 June 1955. p. 6.
  11. "Rattray re-signs". The Courier and Advertiser. Dundee. 11 August 1955. p. 6.
  12. "Bobby Kerr". Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Players Database. Neil Brown. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  13. "Call this Jock the cat". Peterborough Standard. 8 April 1955. p. 10.
  14. Begg, John (1 April 1955). "'Thirds' – a great team". Peterborough Citizen & Advertiser. p. 10.
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